“He honeymooned in Moscow”!
Uh-huh. Golly gee. Call us back when he runs Miss Universe in Moscow, tries to build a Sanders Tower in Moscow (while lying about it), depends on property sales to Russians, gets “all the funding we need out of Russia [and] we just go there all the time.”
120
Bernie doesn't scare me. Even 1 additional day of trump does. Most of the things Bernie rails about, are those which need to pass through Congress to happen - health care, free education, a budget centered around citizens, not warfare. And as such, he'll be working with Congress to pass sensible bills and policy.
All the crap trump and his henchmen have come up with in the past 3+ years will disappear and only prove what weaklings these republicans have been for catering to him.
I'd look forward to a dead horse replacing this "stable genius". And I'll support any nominated Democrat. Even Bernie!
62
I wonder if Putin has a direct access to Fox News network, since now trump is waging war against Justice Sotomayor and Justice Ginsburg hearing segments on his state propaganda machine, that claims bias at SCOTUS.
Is he targeting them for a purge, can he even do this???
It's time to hear from John Roberts!
27
Bernie may claim to not support Putin, but his voting record tells otherwise. He has refused to vote for sanctions against Russia his entire career. Let that sink in. And while he's defending his adoration of Castro as just approving literacy policies instituted after his rise to power, those policies where to solidify propaganda in the minds of kids. And, even Hitler did positive social things in Germany, so I'm not impressed by his defense. We may suspect that Trump admires Putin, and might be correct, but we know that Bernie does. Even Trump has continued the sanctions against Russia; the one's that Bernie voted against.
32
Putin favors Sanders because all the evidence suggests Sanders would not effectively resist Russian aggression into the Ukraine and Europe. Michelle Goldberg is simply flat out wrong that Putin would hate Sanders.
104
Well, Michelle, you missed a big history lesson. Historically all populists are authoritarian. Please find me any who are not. Bernard is a also a populist.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/hard-data-populism-bolsonaro-trump/578878/
20
How sadly delusional this opinion piece is...
Yes, Trump's relationship with Putin has been damaging and not in out national interest.
But what makes anyone think for a second that Bernie Sanders would have any impact on the Russian relationship whatsoever?
Face reality. Sanders will be a paper tiger (at best).
Oooh, maybe he will yell, REALLY LOUD, at Putin. Ooh, I bet that will really scare Putin into not doing anything against the U.S. Surely Bernie's angry old white guy face will really deliver the results for the U.S.!
Wake up people!
28
Wow, another pundit pontificating about Bernie. Except Russian interference is not about Bernie it is about sowing chaos in order to elect Trump. He is their lap dog and every professional national security person will tell you the clear and present danger to our democracy. Voting and participating is the only remedy that will rid us of this plague.
33
Putin and his associates are just following the old Narodnik (Russian revolutionary anarchists) saying regarding supporting Bernie because he will be the easiest for Trump to beat. "The Worse the Better"
10
Is this paid for by the Sanders campaign? Who needs a super pac? There’s an article about Joe Biden’s ‘nepotism problem’ and this; Goldberg and the rest of the NYT seems to have learned nothing from the steady stream of Hillary email/server articles in 2016. Russia trying to influence our election wasn’t a hoax but the Clinton scandal was and the NYT steady steam of stories helped in part to get us with a President Trump. Here we go again,
16
A 2012 op-ed in the Jerusalem Post about global military spending disclosed that the US accounted for 43% of the military spending on this planet. Next in line was China at 7.3%, and then Russia at 3.6%.
This is not to discount the danger posed by an adversary like Russia, which has more nuclear warheads than we do and boasts a new ICBM dubbed the Satan 2 that they claim is invisible to radar and a single one can destroy an area the size of Texas. Russia, China, N. Korea are all dangerous.
But what we have in the US now is an economy based on perpetual war such as Orwell described in "1984" and which Eisenhower warned about in his farewell address to the nation, one of the most disastrously ignored speeches in American political history.
So I, and I would guess a majority of Americans if they knew the facts, would love to release our society from subservience to the military-industrial complex.
But, being constrained to acknowledge reality, I can't support Bernie because:
(a) the current polls are a mirage because the Trump/Russia propaganda machine has cagily refrained from all but the softest attacks while holding a wealth of devastating material in abeyance until Bernie is nominated, at which point the gates of Hell will open against Bernie; and
(b) if by some miracle Bernie wins the presidency, he'll likely have dragged down Dems in purple states to the effect that he'll enter the White House with a Trumpist House and Senate.
And if Trump wins, it'll be much worse.
10
Bernie as President would be no friend to Putin, Kim, Duarte, Netanyahu, MBS, Assad, Bolsanaro etc. Clearly relations with much of EU would improve. The big question would be how he views China. Might be a great debate question for tonight as they are our competitive partner in so many ways.
67
Give me a break. He honeymooned in Moscow, where every hotel room is bugged.
I’m not taking a chance. I’ll vote for someone who isn’t as enthralled by Russia.
His HONEYMOON...of all the destinations in this world, he picks Russia. Crazy.
14
Bernie's views have been set in concrete for 40 years. I find that not admirable, but thickheaded.
29
We hear all the time the Russians are interfering with out elections, but we never hear much specifically about what exactly they are doing in that regard. After the false hysterics claiming Trump colluded through the Russians we should be skeptical of the conclusions they are changing the election outcome. The best I could figure out from the last Presidential election was that the claim was that Russian trolls were planting ridiculous stuff in news feeds of people who get their news only from social media. We are to suppose some Hillary voters saw some post on Facebook claiming Hillary is married to a martian- or whatever- and then supposedly changed their vote to Trump. But there are so many trolls and false posts in social media (not to mention in the MSM) are we supposed to believe the tiny percentage of that junk that was generated by the Russians made a difference in the election? That's a pretty tough sell. If voters are that gullible they probably shouldn't be voting, but I refuse to believe the Russians did anything to change the outcome one iota.
10
My God, am I reading the NY Times !!
A column supporting Bernie Sanders, our next President, the only true blue American to appear on the political scene in decades.
I believe Americans are finally awake, fed up with Trump and his Republican partners, and equally fed up with our Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden Democratic Party.
Can't wait for Bernies' swearing-in ceremony January 21st., 2021.
14
Of course Putin would hate President Sanders. He’s a real proponent of social democracy. Both Putin & Trump are gangsters masquerading as caring leaders, while lining their pockets with ill gotten billions. A real social democrat would make the difference obvious.
21
I am thoroughly convinced that the "Sanders will beat Trump" argument is a GOP talking point because they all keep saying it and that is how you know that is a distributed talking point. WE also know full well the opposite is true. Putin just wants chaos. He knows that Sanders will rip with country apart just as well as Trump did. either will do so long as their views divide us.
I am pleading for all of us to look to a candidate that can just bring calm and quiet to the US. Just for a little while. I want us to stop yelling at each other. Just four years. So far as I can tell, Uncle Joe is the only person who really presents us with someone that is lovable and likeable and not in any way negative or pugnacious. I LIKE that about him. He smiles. He is kind. Why not him? The disaffected Republicans will vote for him. He actually can beat Trump because of that. This is not about policy. It is about relief.
11
Well, Ms. Goldberg, many thanks for this piece. I guess the sky would not fall under a Sanders presidency after all.
The problem we have now is not overcoming the far right, but overwhelming the Democratic establishment that is really nothing more than Republican lite. These wealthy elite Dems — the media establishment included — secretly love their power, their authority, their elite status and their extra riches under the Trump tax cuts and a roaring stock market (at least pre-coronavirus). They may talk a good game on income inequality, civil rights, etc., etc., but just don’t try to build a homeless shelter next to their luxury abode. They were successful in taking down Bernie in 2016 — and you see where that got us — and they’re at it again. They love Bloomberg because, at the end of the day, he’s really just like them.
This is the way America works today. Get a little too uppity, as Bernie has, and you can be sure that well-off Republicans or Democrats (it really doesn’t matter) will be there to tamp you down.
11
Forget Putin.
I hate him.
1
The most obtuse person should be able to read what's going on. Putin is all in on Trump. Who does Putin consider to be the most easily beatable challenger? Sanders. Ergo, Putin puts on the full court press in his support of Sanders. Message to Putin: You cannot urinate on a person's back and tell him it's raining. We know what you're up to!
9
In the end, as the title of an Elizabethan play tells us, "the devil is an ass." Like Hitler, Putin is no exception. Let's hope he helps Bernie as much as possible, under the delusion that Bernie's nomination will help Trump. When Bernie wipes the floor with Trump, Bernie will indeed be Putin's very worst nightmare. Bernie will yugely restore America's role in NATO, and back Ukraine to the hilt, just for starters. He'll also stop the insane trade war with China, which was just what Trump's puppet master Putin ordered up. A victory for Bernie is a yuge loss for Russia.
9
I think Putin understands very clearly that if Trump were to lose; he loses also. I suspect that any of the current crop of Democrat candidates will make their first foreign policy decisions focused on both containing and punishing Putin. I also suspect that Putin knows this and will be working even harder in 2020 to help Trump. Putin's future will also depend on it.
I see nothing remarkable about Sanders in regards to Putin than any other Democrat candidate.
5
All Latinos are not alike. The Mexican-American experience is very different from that of immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries. Sanders's ideological comfort with the left wing dictators that many fled is not going to play well in Florida, a key state.
15
Bernie disliking autocracies and autocrats - are you joking, Ms. Goldberg? This is the candidate who chose to spend a pleasant ten day honeymoon in the Soviet Union - a political entity with a Gulag Archipelago, a prohibition on opposition political parties, and a press owned and controlled by the state. He has no problem getting along with autocracies and worse. You're going to need a lot more whitewash than can be provided by a single column.
5
@Quiet Waiting: Bernie visited the USSR under Gorbachev, who tore up the Iron Curtain and received the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin however, has restored autocracy and wants to make the USSR great again. And Trump is in Putin’s pocket...
13
@Quiet Waiting ...a bit confused here. Apart from the honeymoon trip( lots of American tourists visit Russia) were you describing our current President?
10
And than it starts a narrative by far-right saying Mr. Sanders is what the Russians want. Because he spent his honeymoon in Moscow.
The well known "communist" enemy.
Does it still can win hearts and minds in America?
We will certainly have this answered in next election.
Which is amazing if you think for a second.
Communism? What?
You know, Michelle, I am aware of the tendency of journalists to but stuff in boxes so that they can have an intellectual understanding of them. you do this a lot, but your final comment is a dozy.
If enough Americans unite across racial lines to replace Trump with a Jewish socialist, it might mean that our country is figuring out how to transcend the of our age. I still find it difficult to believe that Sanders can pull it off. But if he does, Putin won’t be pleased for long.
Sanders happens to be the child of Jews. Like you and me, Sanders is also the child of human beings He is an american.
He is, as are we all human beings first.
What Sanders offers is not Jewish or Black or Italian or Spanish or German, or Catholic or Hindu or Muslim. It is also not mediocrity or billionaierish.
It is Common Sense. It does lead toward Liberty and Justice for All!
A big part of the "illiberalism" of our age is precisely the kind of separative fear ridden and hate driven language that so many o f the so called moderates are employing in their whining comments about a person who is pushing the Common Good of us all.
Why not get behind that, Michelle. You have a powerful and skill and, as I have see a big heart. Listen to it.
4
Responders to this piece see through Sanders and Goldberg.....Putin is strengthened by a Bernie presidency.
6
Sanders is 1000% smarter than Trump. That alone would be bad news for Putin. It would be nice to think that he can win the general (by getting a lot of people off the sidelines and voting?) I hope so...
8
I want the bizarre and fractious 'primary' system, against all odds, to select the candidate whom the voting citizens choose to support and to have represent them. Michelle Goldberg has written a thoughtful column that might help accomplish this. What we must choose are the best persons to recover our democracy, and to be capable of confronting the climate and population crisis that endangers life on this planet. This will happen only if the youngest voters vote, with thought and knowledge, to rescue their own future. The rest of us must do our best to help. Think with true information, and vote
2
While we must pay attention to Russian attempts to influence our election, perhaps we don't have to debate them with Trump, who lies like others breathe. Trump would never admit the truth; that he has done more to help Russia than any other president ever, that he has accepted Russia's help willingly and even enthusiastically, that he has met with Putin and refused to tell America what they spoke about. We must not allow either Russia or Trump to define the issues of this campaign.
4
Putin would like Sander's divisiveness just as he likes Trump's. He knows both will make the USA weaker. And Sanders has a long love affair with socialist countries, thinking it wise to harm the best to prop up the worst.
1
Again total misread of the situation. Russia aims for chaos and to sow dissention in the ranks of Americans which is working. However we as Americans are making the Russian problem much worse. It is now standard to call people you disagree with Russian Sympathizers and what not. The Russian election interference effort is small but there return is great as we are willfully turning on each other. Prosecute Russians when we can but we need to move off this, blame Russia nonsense.
1
The author writes, “Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset.” New flash...he is a Russian asset. There is no other explanation for his actions.
8
When it comes to containing Putin and the Russians from meddling in U.S. politics, the issue is not whether Trump is a Putin's "stooge" (although he is) or whether Sanders will cast a more skeptical eye toward Putin (he will).
Neither approach is likely to have any sway with Putin. What is required from Putin is respect and there does not appear any leader or wanna-be leader in the U.S. who could command it.
Unfortunately -- and it's unfortunate because because of the risk -- the only quality in a U.S. president that will have any ability to curb Putin is for him to face an adversary equally smart *and* ruthless. Trump is not smart and he talks big but he is not ruthless. Sanders is smart but nowhere near as smart and worldly and ruthless as Putin.
There is nothing in the senator from Vermont's history to indicate he has the background and ability to go head to toe against Putin. It is ludicrous to think that the former peace activist and mayor of Burlington can match the former KBG agent and mayor of St. Petersburg.
2
I think Ms. Goldberg is overlooking Sanders inability to get achieve anything politically. His ineffectiveness makes him just as attractive to Putin as Trump's incompetence. He is no threat to Putin's agenda.
3
Agree whole heartedly. Now if he can only win. Nice to see a piece in NYT not denigrating Senator Sanders. Inspiring enough I will try to come up with a small donation to campaign before end of the month. I hope he can find a VP to help his cause...Deval Patrick or Kamala Harris. I had hoped Klobuchar, but I think that is not possible now. I hope he does NOT release his medical records. But he does need to get in his daily walking in to maintain his health. If Sanders and Klobuchar bow out, will NYT endorse Sanders?
Bernie Sanders called for Russia to join NATO - in 2017. That was after the extent of their meddling in the presidential election was widely known, after they annexed Crimea, and after Russian-backed rebels shot down a passenger plane in the eastern Ukraine.
1
@Kappus: That was specifically to fight ISIS better, and it was in 2015, not 2017.
2
It is sad to read Ms. Goldberg rationalizing why Bernie Sanders would make such a good President without mentioning that there are other candidates still in the race. One might imagine it was all over but for the election in November; that primary season had ended. And maybe she is right. Maybe it is all over. But if it is, that would be a shame since only three states have held primaries! A mere total of slightly over 550,000 people voted in those primaries. In 2016, a total of over 30 million people voted in all the Democratic Primaries combined. If a similar number cast Primary ballots this year, that figure of 550,000 would represent less than 2% of the total!! If we have a system in which 2% of voters determine who will be the nominee, then that system stinks!
It might also be worth noting that Ms. Goldberg addresses Bernie Sanders' foreign policy almost exclusively. However, I believe it is with his domestic policies that most people take issue.
6
Nothing will make American people happier than having Russia surrounded with American military bases and seeing Putin dethroned.
Things such education, healthcare and infrastructure are obviously secondary in importance when compared to military spending.
For as long as there are autocratic regimes, the American might must be directed at subverting and eliminating them. Democracy must be brought to places like China, Russia, Saudi Arabia... Eeehhm, oops! Saudi Arabia is an ally. Scratch that and continue with the list.
1
@MBee
Thanks to Canada's presence as a strong world power, the US could scale back to almost nothing. Yeah, right. And then the Royal Mounties could save the day. Like in the old cartoons.
4
How can we forget that Putin served in the Soviet Union's
KGB, and that Bernie was so enamored of the Soviet Union he honeymooned there? With their common background of admiration for the Soviet Union, a socialist republic by its own description, it is difficult to say that Bernie the American Socialist and Putin the former defender of the Socialist Soviet Union would not admire each other. And, just recently Bernie told us that Fidel Castro the Communist dictator of Cuba did some good things. Putin liked him too. Bernie is looking for a revolution in this country and he means a real one: think Russian Revolution. You know, it is when the lower classes rise up and kill the middle and upper class. Some seem to be in favor of just that, an old fashion Russian Revolution. It seems that some of Bernie's supporter have already committed acts of violence including property damage against those who support Democrat candidates. if Bernie wins and it sure like he might, Putin will right at home with a socialist US like the one he laments is lost, the USSR.
3
Do you seriously believe what you write? Sanders believes in democracy and condemns authoritarianism. He condemned what he saw in the Soviet Union, and he condemned Castro’s authoritarianism.
He’s not my candidate because I don’t think he’s electable, but I’m under no illusion that Putin wants to see Sanders in the White House. He wants to see Sanders win the Democratic nomination because he thinks Sanders would be the easiest candidate for Trump to beat.
Putin has his perfect stooge in Donald Trump. Russian trolls will bring the knives out for Bernie in the general election, if he’s the nominee.
4
I think people misunderstand Putin. He doesn't pick one politician over another. The Russians want to foster instability. They are going to always be for a new U.S. president, regardless of party. Trump for 4 years, Bernie for 4 years, someone else for 4 years, and Putin forever.
2
Why would Putin want a new president?
I think we understand Putin. He’d support Sanders’ candidacy right up until the general election, then go all in for Trump. I’d bet good money on it.
5
Trump is going to win this election. Simple as that. Dem's might as well get over it. There isn't a candidate, even this late in the game, that can challenge Trump.
2
I don’t even care. Just another 4 years of awkwardness. I’m sure we’ll recover eventually. Every country hurts sometimes
1
@patrick You're wrong, Patrick. Unless Sanders does something of incalculable stupidity -- Palin; Lieberman -- he's a shoo-in. Even a war won't work like it used to -- sorry, Times -- in fact, would probably make it a landslide. That's what the people are on to, finally.
As Ms. Goldberg must know but did not state, Sanders has introduced an anti-fracking bill. Such a bill couldn't make Putin happier since fracking keeps the value of oil and gas low which hurts the Russians significantly.
Transparency is very, very important, yet Ms. Goldberg, to serve her own thesis, neglected to state this very important fact.
Unlike Sanders, Trump understands very well that increased US oil & gas production keeps the value of oil & gas low which hurts the Russians and the Russian's needs to invade other countries such as Ukraine.
Sadly Sanders lacks the most basic understanding of foreign policy. If he did understand foreign policy, he would not be helping the Russians to export through increased oil & gas prices.
6
American voters aren’t thinking about the geopolitical impacts of fracking, they care about the local environmental impacts.
2
Seriously, your premise is that Trump understands foreign policy, and that he’s trying to anger Putin?
No, Trump has no interest in or understanding of foreign policy. Putin has some hold over him, so he’ll do whatever Putin asks.
I guarantee that Putin will do everything in his power to re-elect Trump.
3
Nobody is going to beat 45 unless we can get young people to vote, and seeing them do so in a midterm, delivering the house was promising, However, if the DNC wants to alienate young people from voting, then working to openly undermine Sanders as he gains in popularity, is the way to do it. I'm worried that Sanders is going to win a plurality, and the DNC is going to let Bloomberg buy all the other delegates for the nomination.
If something like that happens, I fear that the ensuing riot will make the 1968 convention look like peaceful gathering.
People are really tired of Third-Way Dem phonies, simply repackaging bad republican policies as their own to try to win over the mythical swing voter that isn't going to vote for them anyway.
7
young people don't trust gov.. so they go with retoric that Trump sella then. Trump is considered anti gov these days
@NobodyOfConsequence but Bernies a different kind of phony too
1
The autocrat in question isn't Putin. My take-home from this article is that Ms. Goldberg sees Bernie as a strong candidate to empower the return of the country "to the people", in direct contrast to the autocracy Trump is building.
5
As Ms. Goldberg points out, Putin's goal is to sow discord in US society, and he supports the candidates that wittingly or unwittingly will achieve these goals. While Sanders may unite people across age and racial lines on one side of the political spectrum, he will have the opposite effect on the other side. Conservatives called Obama a socialist, and this spawned the Tea Party movement and other strong backlashes. Can you imagine the backlash on the right when someone who actually calls themselves a "democratic socialist" is elected. It is very likely that a Sanders presidency will continue the divisiveness in US society that started to intensify under Obama and that Trump has supercharged, even despite Sanders attempts to unite the country.
1
Well, if Republicans are going to attack any Democrat as a socialist whether they are or not, what difference does it make? Might as well get the real thing. George W Bush was a socialist by current GOP standards.
7
Bernie Sanders has promised to stop fracking and thus make us dependent on Putin. There is almost no usable wind west of Chicago, by the way.
That is what Elizabeth Warren did already.
Massachusetts didn't build a pipeline to Pennsylvania, to stay green. When there was a harsher winter in 2017, Massachusetts had to import natural gas from Putin, breaking the restrictions imposed by Trump. See WaPo here.
Tanker carrying liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Arctic arrives in Boston
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/tanker-carrying-liquefied-natural-gas-from-russias-arctic-arrives-in-boston/2018/01/28/08d3894c-0497-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html
Sanders also promised to reduce military spending.
How great is that for Putin! Putin already dominates Europe with his gas pipelines... With Sanders in charge, he would get to dominate the US as well.
36
@Xoxarle You would welcome a reduction in military spending.
Putin would welcome it as well, for sure. That is the point I was making, Sanders would be good for Putin.
12
The Pentagon would welcome a reduction in military spending. They have argued against programs forced on them by Congress, weapons systems they didn’t ask for and bases they wanted to close.
48
What does the West have? Lots of usable sun.
34
The author’s faith in Sanders is misplaced. Under a Bernie administration, Russia would have far more influence over world affairs in the absence of a strong America. Putin would love a President Sanders and the world would suffer for it.
4
Everything seems to potentially work out really well for the Democrats.
There is no chance that Bernie or anyone can unseat the President who has created so many jobs and restored our place in the world. Donald Trump is the very picture of success.
Of course, following a Democrat is always the way to shine before the American people. Before Trump followed a socialist, Warren Harding had probably the best single year of economic growth following Mrs. Wilson and her invalid husband's exit from the scene. (There's your first woman president, by the way.)
Therefore, the Dems get to handle Bernie by letting him be the sacrificial lamb so that some with a ghost or a chance can go up against the GOP in 2024.
Why are all these progressives complaining? 2020 is decided, and 2024 wil require a moderate if the Dems can find one. Should be easy.
Finally, a clear-eyed, evenhanded opinion piece that distinguishes admiration for economic leveling--via progressive taxes and eliminating corporate handouts--from uninformed and ahistorical propaganda about socialism.
Critically, Goldberg also distinguishes what Trump has championed at home and abroad--kleptocracy and dictatorial government--from what Sanders has thundered about for four decades: strengthening the rule of law and democratic institutions.
What anyone with a passing familiarity of U.S. history knows is that, from Citizens United to Trump's open and unabashed rejection of our Constitution's separation of powers, this country is already unmoored from the vision of the Founding Fathers. What the Democrats ought to consider is Navy blue ball caps reading "Make American Honest Again."
7
How come we accept as truth without any proof what Intel agencies assume Russia is doing against US elections?. Is there any proof they are hacking into election booths or sending bogus Emails to American voters?. If there is wouldn't it be nice if they informed us?. Our Intelligence budget is reportedly 100 times that of Russia but they are supposedly doing all this damage on us?. I support Sanders and if elected hopefully he will calm down the 'blame Russia for everything' going bad in the world and instead look at us ourselves in the mirror.
Putin doesn't support Trump and Sanders because of their policies. He supports them because they both encourage a distrust of our systems. We all know about Trump, but Sanders uses the same language of being the victim of corrupt institutions, of evil billionaires (as a millionaire, he had to leave that out) and greedy corporations running a rigged game against the "real people" of America. The press and the Democratic establishment are out to get him, and a revolution is coming - and if it doesn't, it's because the game is rigged, and our democracy is not to be trusted. That's the message that Putin wants to spread, and Trump and Sanders are doing a bang-up job sending it.
2
@Tom Fahsbender Putin isn’t looking for Sander’s support. He is counting on Sanders to remove America from it’s role as a major power on the world stage. Putin knows that Sanders will not be a leader that prioritizes America as a defender of democracy around the world.
2
This should be published every day and repeated everywhere. Let's not let the FoxNews/Trump administration mislead capture the messaging.
2
That’s exactly what moderates are afraid of, Sanders and his supporters are as offended by dissenting opinions as the Trumpets.
Congratulations on finally producing a sane, correct, useful column. Now do the right thing and endorse Sanders already.
1
Putin isn’t supporting Bernie because he thinks he can win - he’s supporting him because he knows he can’t beat his useful idiot.
4
Forget about polls. Forget about quotes from selected quasi-pundits in obscure corners of political discourse. Your article starts with the premise that Sanders would be a strong force against Putin's Russia. You never manage to make much of a case in favor of this idea, and you hedge further by essentially declaring that he's unlikely to be elected anyway. Bernie must be saying, "Wow, with friends like you..."
2
But there won't be a President Sanders, there'll be a president trumpy II. Polling evidence suggests that Bernie has higher unfavorability ratings than trumpy in the states that matter to the electoral college. And it's likely he'll do poorly elsewhere too.
5
If a President Sanders is to fulfill the hopes of his supporters it will be by slashing the bloated military budget and avoiding a suicidal military confrontation with another nuclear power, not by the hawkish militarism your columnist advocates. Such aggressive imperialism is absolutely incompatible with progressive policies, or any chance of building a sane, peaceful society.
3
The Russians are helping Bernie because he would be a weak candidate in a general election and they want Trump to be reelected. They are helping Trump because they want him to be reelected for obvious reasons. It's as simple as that.
8
While it's true that Sanders' positions are strongly antithetical to the oligarchical kleptocracy that seems to have taken hold here and he is the favorite of many young people who are justly fed up with how government has operated, particularly in the last three years, the key question, the elephant in the room perhaps, is can he actually beat Trump? Although a Sanders win would not be good for Putin, a Trump win certainly would be. The Democrats, and the nation, would be much better served if the Democratic candidates stop tearing each other apart at every opportunity, stop putting self before country and start developing a platform that has a common sense, common ground approach to the major issues, ones that are supported by facts not slogans and to which a majority of Americans could respond positively, and present a more unified front to the greatest internal threat to our democracy since the Civil War.
3
Putin is fully aware of the downside to a Sanders presidency for him. He's only supporting Sanders getting the Democratic nomination. Within seconds of him doing that the Russian/Republican Joint Propaganda Taskforce would turn their big guns on him and keep firing away nonstop; into November.
Putin saw how well this collaboration worked in 2016. He sees how high Trump's approval rating is with Republican voters who see the strength of the economy for the very rich and persist in the belief that it will trickle down to them.
Putin also knows what the oppo research has dug up on Sanders.
Within weeks the general public will see him as Red Bernie, fueled by clips from the Democratic debates where Bernie says "billionaires" like its an obscenity (apparently "millionaires" like Bernie with his three houses...not so much). Bernie's attacks on Mike Bloomberg for the crime of being rich will not fly with the swing voters democrats must sway to win in the swing states.
Sanders' supporters have never seen what the Russian and Republican influence operations would do to him. Of course if the proletariat rise as one and burst their shackles and defy the oligarchs by voting for Bernie in a landslide, that's another matter. Odds of that happening: about the same as of Trump renouncing his worldly concerns and becoming a Trappist monk.
All us Democratic moderates will vote for Sanders if he wins the nomination, nevertheless.
Vote Blue no matter who.
4
I agree in general with the conclusion of this article, and the statement that Putin views Sanders as Trump's weakest opponent and is supporting Sanders, in part, to support Trump. But I believe it is equally Putin's desire to create divisiveness and encourage tribalism in America. He wants a weak America.
The fact that Sanders, as president, would not be a friend of Putin does not mean that Sanders, as president, would be able to undermine Putin. It is possible, and I believe Putin realizes this, that America would be parallelized by a Sanders presidency and not be effective at all in opposing Putin. The divisiveness and Congressional paralysis we saw with a black president was nothing compared to the divisiveness we will see with a Jewish socialist president. I have no doubt that many Americans will call for civil war if Sanders is elected. We could see an ineffective, divided America that would please Putin just fine.
5
"I still find it difficult to believe that Sanders can pull it off"
Perhaps, but you should be conceding by now that neither Warren, Biden, Buttigieg, nor Bloomberg can possibly pull it off, and in fact are starting to really damage Democrat chances as much s the DNC has done. Bloomberg, perhaps Biden and Buttigeig would secretly be happy with Trump over Sanders.
Sanders is going to need the next few months building his ground team all over the country to get the vote out of the young, black, and Latino. If he's going to have to be battling the desperate attacks of the other weak candidates until the convention, it will really harm his chances.
1
Sorry, Michelle, but this time around you're just dead wrong. You write that "Sanders, by contrast, believes that American foreign policy should be oriented around expanding democracy in the face of what he called 'a new authoritarian axis''. What you neglected to add, however, is that his antithesis to authoritarian leaders is reserved exclusively for right-wing strongmen. He has spent a lifetime excusing socialist dictators' authoritarian tendencies as perhaps unfortunate but paling in comparison to the good they did for their respective countries. He just reiterated this view in an interview this past weekend, praising Fidel Castro for all the wonderful things he did for Cuba, never mind that Castro imprisoned all forms of dissenters without trial and was one of the most destabilizing forces on the world stage for decades. Bernie's refusal to fully condemn Maduro in Venezuela is just another example of a pattern of support for socialist/communist dictators that goes back decades. In short, while Russia may be a right-wng oligarchy, there remain several left leaning dictators on the world stage that the US could find itself cozying up to under President Sanders. Of course with his latest statements Bernie probably lost any chance of beating Trump in Florida so maybe all of this is moot.
4
Sanders’ formula is wrong in his weighing of the positives and negatives of Castro’s regime, and he was politically stupid to praise it at all. But you’ve also got it wrong by saying Sanders believes the bad of Castro’s regime pales compared to the good. His position is more like, the dictatorship is awful but in fact the literacy and healthcare programs improved the lives of Cuban people. It’s ridiculous to dwell on that bright spot in view of the horrendous darkness of a Communist dictatorship. So Bernie is ridiculous and stupid in framing it the way he does. But don’t attribute to him an even worse view than he actually takes.
3
One of the reasons Trump has been so busily trying to deny Russian influence in the 2016 election has been so that he can draw a distinction between himself and the 'socialist' read 'communist' Democrat. That Putin is an authoritarian regime like Trump does not matter as Trump's supporters immediately by the notion that russia equals communist. Trump and Putin are depending on the stupidity of a large segment of our electorate perhaps enough to win the election to beat someone like Sanders and my fear with the echoes of the 2016 election fresh that they just might be right.
3
It seems as if every pundit is now enthralled with and referencing national polls showing Sanders winning against Trump. It is time to stop that. Until we see polls reflecting key states that will control the Electoral College outcome, we're all falling into the same trap that existed in 2016.
Bernie is now skating on thin ice in Florida with his past pro-Castro comments surfacing. By promoting an outright ban on fracking, he could easily lose states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Wisconsin, Trump now leads Sanders. If those states go to Trump, this election is lost.
181
@Tom Q Sanders beats Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, by as large or larger margins than each of his opponents. Trump won all those states in 2016.
Data from the 2020 Election Survey by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from Feb 11-20.
Sanders vs. Trump
MI 48% to 41%
PA 47% to 45%
WI 46% to 44%
Biden performs next-best, overall:
Biden vs. Trump
MI 47% to 43%
PA 46% to 45%
PA 45% to 43%
95
@Tom Q This paper reports today that Sanders is _not_ increasing turnout. For 50 years Dems have chased the 18-24 vote, and for 50 years it's been Lucy and the football.
25
Today's polls showed Sanders winning handily vs Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
202
Enough already. Those of us who are paying attention know full well that the only reason Moscow is interested in promoting Bernie is that the outcome will almost certainly be Trump’s re-election. In the event Bernie beats the odds, then Moscow’s primary agenda of methodically destroying our country from within by polarization will continue unabated and likely get even worse. Personality wise, Bernie is the mirror image of DJT and his foreign or any other policy differences don’t matter to Moscow. Read Friedman’s column today. His plan is the only way out.
6
Goldberg is simply delusional. Putin is salivating over the prospect of Bernie Sanders presidency. Why? Sanders would quickly bankrupt the federal government with Medicare for all, the $20 trillion Green New Deal, forgiveness of all college student debt, and a gutting of the military. Add to these big spending, big government boondoggles, the clear fact that the U.S. stock markets would implode with Sanders in the White House has Putin solidly in Sander's corner. The ability of editorial and opinion writers in The Times to reverse the truth to fit their own political agenda is simply beyond belief. But not unexpected.
4
“We must take the opportunity to reconceptualize a global order based on human solidarity, an order that recognizes that every person on this planet shares a common humanity, that we all want our children to grow up healthy, to have a good education, have decent jobs, drink clean water, breathe clean air and to live in peace. Our job is to reach out to those in every corner of the world who shares these values, and who are fighting for a better world.” — Senator Bernie Sanders, October 19, 2018
2
Obviously, Russian support for Bernie = a reelection of Trump. Why are people pretending Putin actually wants Bernie to be elected?!
6
Is it possible that Putin has some dirt on Bernie and his plan is to build up Bernie and then at the last minute expose the dirt thus ensuring Trump's win? Like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown at the last moment but nastier. Putin doesn't even have to have any real dirt on Bernie, he just needs to say he has it, like he did to Hillary. And like Trump tried to do against Biden. If Bernie wins the nomination in June and then some pseudo-dirt appears in late October, there will be no time to regroup and the write-ins will scatter the Democratic vote among the June losers. "Aghhh!", as Charlie would exclaim.
Putin prefer Sanders to face of trump, but trump is Smart V. Putin’s all time favorite !
Ms. Goldberg says "at times Sanders has been embarrassingly credulous about communist regimes."
I don't see it. What I see is a consistent refusal to engage in the Cold War ritual of knee-jerk condemnations of countries towards which the US ruling class happens to be directing its hostilities.
The social accomplishments of the Russian, Chinese, Cuban, and Nicaraguan Revolutions were quite real. Castro really did lift a large fraction of the Cuban population out of illiteracy and dramatically improve their medical care. Cuban doctors are admired all over the world.
Right-wing Cuban exiles in Miami who yearn to have their plantations and bordellos restored would have us believe that Castro turned Cuba into some sort of cartoonish totalitarian hell world. Its just not true.
Likewise China lifted more people out of poverty more quickly than any other country in history. Indeed China alone accounts for most of the world's poverty alleviation over the past half century.
These are inconvenient facts to the US anti-communist consensus, but they are nonetheless important facts for understanding the world we live in and why governments the US opposes still command considerable loyalty.
Bernie is critical of these countries where appropriate, but it is to his credit that he won't be brow-beaten into pretending that the truth isn't the truth.
6
@Christopher Although all true, these positions make him unelectable in this country at this time. However ridiculous, many consider socialism a dirty word. The fact that he is Jewish also does not help in this nation in which bigotry has flourished recently to the point where many are proud of it. We need someone more palatable to a majority, someone with more centrist views in order to accomplish the most important task of this election, taking back our country from a dictator.
Putin couldn't care less how an American President feels about him - all he cares about is what is good for Russia.
See
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/10/23/trump-isnt-putins-puppet-hes-just-unfit-for-office-a67869
Anyone unfit for is. That includes Bernie
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/opinion/sanders-over-the-edge.html
according to the NY Times most read columnist
Michelle,you are a known Sanders supporter in spite of his support for Russia and denounced AIPAC attendance.
It's dishonest to say Sanders would do anything but cave to putin.he is an opportunist and dishonest himself for hiding his wife's embezzlement and his lvef medical finding. He is a heart attack waiting to happen and Trump would year him apart.
2
Putin is playing us. again. By saying he would like Sanders to run against trump he is lying and playing with our heads. They would be scared to death to see Sanders run against their boy, trump.
1
Since a Sanders administration will do its best a.) significantly reduce U.S. defense spending including high technology projects that would be most problematic for the Russians to counter and b.) withdraw U.S. forces from the Mideast and elsewhere, thereby inviting Russian power to replace it, Sanders would seem to be an ideal president for Putin and his regime allies.
2
This oped includes one of the most insightful phrases I've read in popular media in the last decade.
"Few nations on earth have figured out how to create, in heterogenous populations, the solidarity needed to sustain a robust public sphere."
I would argue that no country has been able to do this well with a truly heterogenous population, and among the developed countries, the US has the most heterogenous population. America will be truly great if able to pull this off.
1
Not as much as the Americans who didn't vote for him.
People don't usually vote for Revolutions in a Democracy. Revolutions happen when Democracies fail.
We are not there yet despite the constant proclamations from the unhinged Left.
3
@Norville T. Johnston
You are already a "failed democracy" and given what this current occupant of the WH has already done just in his first three years, what do you think will happen if he is given another FOUR?
3
Putin is helping Sanders because he knows Sanders will loose against Trump. Putin is not the only one "supporting" Sanders, so is Manafort. Sanders would be their dream candidate against Trump this fall.
5
Except, Michelle, so far the narrative of millions of white, black and brown youth coming together to take back the country is only a myth. Voting in the first 3 states is flat with 2016 and way down from 2008. No revolutionary zeal.
And when you consider the continued population growth in places like Nevada in the last 12 years, flat is actually way down.
5
Franklin D. Roosevelt was repeatedly vilified by the plutocracy and conservative Republicans of his age as a “socialist”, even a “communist”. Sound familiar? So when so-called “moderate”, “mainstream”, “establishment “ Democratic candidates, their supporters, and certain political pundits start spewing that same gibberish about Sanders, in addition to the authoritarian Trumpists, remember the iconic F.D.R. Particularly, the four, unprecedented elections he successfully participated in.
1
@John Grillo
A " moderate" democrat is a "status quo" democrat, the key to failing to understand how someone like Trump could be elected in the first place.
Sanders wants to drastically shrink the military and America's presence abroad. I think Putin would welcome that.
Also, Bernie loves and praises authoritarian dictators (castro and Xi). Seems like Putin gets his stooge.
Oh, and I forgot, Bernie's goofy ideas will also destroy the most successful economy in world history.
6
Please be aware that Sanders honeymooned in the old Soviet Union where Sanders said "he learned a lot." Sanders was always full of praise for the old Soviet Union and Castro's Cuba.
There is no evidence at all that Sanders would resist Putin's aggression into the Ukraine and Europe, if Sanders were leader of the free world. Many elected Democratic officials have already clearly stated that they could not support Sanders in November because Sanders would be a disaster in their crucial swing States.
6
Putin is one of the worst criminals in the world today.
He can't be deposed soon enough.
3
The problem with Sanders is certainly not Russia, though I do believe Sanders will be seen as wesk. The problem with Sanders is he is supporting an enormous healthcare reform combined with unpopular amnesty for all illegal immigrants and open borders, which will attract millions every year to USA. This will lead to a flood of uneducated people coming to the USA. Sweden did this, and as a Swedish person I can attest to the results: the world’s highest taxes is not enough. Healthcare is a disaster, with thousands dying from waiting in queues every year. Violence has sky-rocketed, in particular, rape, gang rape, murder, and bomb explosions, organised crime, fraud. While pundits often don’t want immigration blamed for this, which is noble, and the people to blame should be politicians who place these people in such hopeless situations, the fact is that Sweden’s biggest newspapers recently posted numbers in regards to some of this. An immigrant was 5 times mord likely to commit murder or rape, and 2,5 times as likely to commit minor crimes. Of 148 people involved in gang rapes examined last year, none had only white parents. This is not race at work, rather culture, of course, and should be no cause to hate anyone. More worrisone for a lot of Swedes is the cultural clash. In 2050 over 30% of the population will be muslim. Already four major attempts by islamists to infiltrate major political parties has happened. A serious muslim party with islamist undertones is also forming.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
1
He is a Jewish "Democratic" Socialist. Is that so hard to say?
3
Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are an axis of right-wing white European Judeo- Christian bigoted prejudiced supremacist corrupt crony capitalist corporate plutocrat oligarch evil.
4
Can someone email text or WhatsApp this column to Putin?
1
Trump has and likely still is helping Putin’s oligarchs launder tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars through corrupt real-estate deals.
Bernie can’t do that.
Trump has fiduciary value. Bernie does not. It’s the difference between a useful idiot and a pigeon.
3
I have no clue what Ms Goldberg is saying. It makes no sense.
The intellectual gymnastics that NYT are doing is amazing. To say a fan of 60s-style Tito/Castro will be Putin's nightmare takes a level of delusion not seen since Obama put a bunch of Goldman Sachs fiancee guys in charge of the economy.
The most staggering is Dr Krugman - who wrote 3 paragraphs before giving up.
4
spin, baby, spin
2
Left/Right. Black/White. Rich/Poor. Coastal/Heartland. Armed/Unarmed. Right/Wrong. Us/Them. Heaven/Hell!!!
What's with all this binary logic and thinking???
Enough is enough!
2
"He honeymooned in Moscow.”
And maybe trump peed on a bed in Moscow and maybe he walked in on semi-clothed beauty contest contenders in Moscow. Maybe.
The honeymoon? Maybe Bernie wanted to see where some of his ancestors lived. Ask him!
Meanwhile, I'm back to Amy for President...
2
It's hard to disagree with Charles Blow yesterday column...
There is a very real desire for real change in this country. It would be a mistake to discount it.
"Who knows maybe if DNC didn't interfere we wouldn't have trump now.
For decades the citizens were brainwashed about the proverbial "Red Scare" simultaneously same state propaganda in reverse was back in USSR, we just simply knew not to trust them.
Many americans during these decades still had trust in their government. Besides, no one even trying to explain to people what is Democratic Socialism vs. Communism/Socialism.
You heard when Bloomberg pronounce this scary red threat, the reaction he got.
People's lives are so damn busy with just surviving every day, who can blame them for not discerning ...
This topic deserves to be discussed and debated for education of our citizens.
We're seeing what no longer works, why not try?
It's not like we don't have it now... Medicare, SS, Medicaid...this could be qualified as Socialism.
Think about it... anyway nothing will happen if the senate is ruled by McConnell, the real enemy of Democracy.
Bernie has to stop to double down on his remarks of Castro, USSR, Sandinista, assuming he wants to win.
This is simply not digestible for many older voters right now or ever.
Talk more about Scandinavian style and we can gradually achieve it on a state by state level.
1
Deeds matter more than words (or tweets). Nothing supports Putin more than Sanders' policy proposals to decimate our military and domestic energy production. Particularly the ban on fracking which will practically give Putin a global monopoly on LNG.
4
There is also a slight chance that Russia has indicated that it supports Bernie Sanders to further sow division between the Democratic establishment and the growing faction of anti-establishment Sanders supporters. To weaken and divide the Democratic party in 2020, as it did with the G.O.P. in 2016, is to give Russia more leeway on the Global Stage.
2
Wow. A glimmer of tolerance, of acceptance of Bernie Sanders in the stable of NYT columnists. Oh, but wait! It's Michelle Goldberg. But of course. How refreshing.
3
“But Russia doesn’t have any special insight into how American elections are going to play out”.
You don’t need a special insight or clairvoyance - you need a fifth sense. Sanders has no chance in a general election during a period of economic expansion. He won’t win because “it’s the economy, stupid.”
3
This is the first time I have sought to praise Ms. Goldberg's work, following my numerous (consistently unpublished) criticisms. In this column she uncharacteristically withholds her typical venom against old white men, I guess because she hates the one in the White House more.
4
Trump is mentally ill, only a couple of clicks away from out & out psychosis. Skinner's pigeons would make more rational decisions than Trump. Elect somebody sane and we'll take things from there.
6
None of this much matters, compared to the incontrovertible fact that s solid 45% of the American people are enthused to have a Sociopath in the White House.
5
Peculiar that Ms. Goldberg identifies Bernie Sanders as "a Jewish socialist," when it appears that Jewish voters do not support Sanders: https://forward.com/opinion/440031/bernie-sanders-says-hes-proud-to-be-jewish-will-jewish-voters-care
For many Jewish voters, Sanders is a shanda for the goyim.
1
Feel The Bern.
Dump Trump
Jettison Putin.
November 3 2020
9
The American Green party is not far left. It represents the environment, working and middle classes and animal rights. If that is far left, then there is really something wrong with this country.
4
@Bill true and I'd add that if you want to see what "left" looks like, check out Sweden where the Democratic Socialist party has wreaked havoc on the population.
Caring about the environment, and consider non-human animals as sentient beings who should have far greater rights and protections than they currently hold in the US and elsewhere, is just common sense. Leave it to those who fear change to try to radicalize anything that they believe might demand a little more of them. Most western nations are unsustainable because of their greed and consumption levels, and most developing nations are unsustainable because they are extremely overpopulated and are also bearing the brunt of the west's overconsumption and exploitation.
A good article that outlines the clear differences between Trump's cronies' statements about Bernie and communism and the Don's real friendship with Putin that goes back to before 2016. Sound bites that are clearly meant to malign Sanders and his democratic socialist credentials do not add up to his being Putin's buddy, as Trump is. In the ridiculous exchange of taunts and falsehoods, Trump attempts to tarnish Bernie, in particular at this moment in time. No longer satisfied to go after Joe and his son, Hunter, and Burisma, a false chase, or attack Pochahantas, his target now is Bernie who apparently is in the lead. It's such a 1984 moment, that of Newspeak that Orwell is having a laugh. The rest of us, not so much.
2
Here is a video produced by Reason TV (libertarian organization) about Bernie Sanders. As you watch it ask yourself how many ads will Trump's campaign gain from it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2d3DMC6qyg&t=6s
Remember that in the presidential elections the majority of voters are older than middle age so they will remember what is covered in this video.
2
Michelle, you're going to need a lot more whitewash that one column can provide if you want to cover up this embarrassment - Bernie doesn't like autocrats?
Your dear Bernie was celebrating his honeymoon in the Soviet Union when the Gulag Archipelago was still in full operation with concentration camps filled with hundreds of thousands of political prisoners, when political opposition was banned, and when there were several hundred thermonuclear warheads on Russian missiles aimed at us. You're Bernie can cavort with autocrats, tyrants, and thugs as long as they are called progressive.
3
Actually, Bernie stands against supporting and defending fledgling European democracies against Russian imperialism. "Bernie is against the expansion of NATO to include new member states because it risks provoking military conflict with Russia."
3
Putin knows that come hell or high water President Sanders is not going to commit U.S. troops overseas or use military force.
2
@Joe Borini yes because "committing troops and use military force" has really worked out quite well for previous administrations.
2
@Alice
Are you forgetting WWII? We saved our allies.
1
Let us hope that Sanders comes to pass. He can do no worse than the inept kleptocrat currently residing in the WH. #VoteDemocrat2020
3
If Sanders does manage to pull it off and become President, there's no question that he will be better than Trump. But that's setting the bar way, way low. However, based on his past, I don't think that he will be able to move much past Congress unless the Democrats have huge majorities in both the House and the Senate and even then, his more extreme ideas will not necessarily get an easy ride. Where I think his will be a similar administration to Trump's is through his lack of diplomacy (gee, you think he could smile once in a while?) and his general disruptiveness. It will be just more chaos which is what I think Putin will be smiling about. I don't think Putin really cares so long as the US is floundering about, abandoning their allies, fostering even more internal divisiveness and upsetting apple carts all over the place.
4
True, but Putin thinks Sanders is his best bet to get more years of Trump, or at least keep the turmoil going which weakens the US.
3
I don't think there is as much doubt about Sanders' ascendance as the author suggests
3
If Trump can be President; then Sanders can. People are tired of "establishment" candidates. They thought that Obama was outside of the establishment and were sorely disappointed. The picked Trump so that he would poke the "smart" people in the eye. Many are disappointed again; because he has been standard Republican in action and a basic twitter troll in talk. So yeah, Sanders might actually do something to make their lives better. It is worth a shot, nobody else has come through.
2
Gradual change corporate Democrats take money from the entrenched interests and will protect those donors and their seats in Congress.
People fear change and this plays into their hands. The only person to actually to say how things would change in a new Healthcare system has see her campaign hit a wall.
Is your world better off with the current occupant of the Whitehouse, think for yourself, don’t let others answer this question for you.
Clearly pundits are mostly wrong and are interested in their position and power regardless of the reality.
Red face test: do you feel proud to tell your children that If they follow the presidents behavior that they too could be POTUS? Is that what you would want for your children?
1
I think you have it wrong as did a previous opinion piece run a few days ago in the New York Times.
Putin is firmly in the Trump camp. The Russians' (I mean, Putin's) nominal support for Bernie is total misdirection. Trump gets to say: "See, it's not just me!" The Russians would love to set the Democrats up with a straw man who wins the nomination but is somehow tainted. They and Trump believe that Trump can easily defeat a "socialist".
Come November, I hope Bernie, a Democratic Socialist, proves them wrong. I think, with the help of a united Democratic Party and the support of all those candidates who offered themselves to us and America in the primaries, he can.
3
Are there actually journalists in the U.S. who fail to see the cynicism and the irony of Russia's so-called 'support' for Bernie Sanders?
It's all part of the Russian chess game, the political version, that is, (a game they play so much better than Americans). Russians still want a crazy strongman like Trump in power. Dealing with a strongman is so much easier for Russia than dealing with an actual, sensible, democratically-minded leader. Getting Bernie as Trump's Democratic opponent would be a dream come true for Putin and his FSB. They know that Bernie, with his extreme socialist policies, is unelectable in the U.S.
4
Where does this hatred of Russia and the elected president come from? Like racism it should play no part in international politics. Russia has been blamed for supporting Trump in 2016 and now for supporting both Bernie Sanders AND Trump! Why would they do this - do you really think that Lavrov or Putin would spend their time on such trivia when they have so many important issues to contend with at home and in the international field? Would it not be better if columnists and journalist wrote more about social and economic problems within the United States itself such as the glaring inequality and never-ending racism.
3
@Dominick Eustace: Putin wants to restore the borders of the USSR to Russia. You probably would too, if you wore his shoes.
Putin would be very happy if we banned fracking so that the world would be reliant on them for oil. Sanders wants to ban fracking.
5
@scott: The industry has already sequestered Venezuela’s oil from the global market.
1
Putin Putin Putin. The big threat is China now. You are living in the past.
“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”
–President Obama, during the third presidential debate, Oct. 22, 2012
@Tim: Foreign adventurism distracts the public from domestic problems.
1
Michelle seems to support foreign interference in US elections.
1
So, U.S. voters are to choose between fascism or socialism ?
If you want Sander's socialism, better pray for a significant derailment of our economy between now and November.
Otherwise, prepare for an authoritarian America.
Wake up. We need to find even keel to our ship of state. Fast.
Bloomberg 2020.
4
Win or lose, Putin expects Bernie to edge the US towards disintegration.
5
@Steve Bolger Or Putin only wants the US public to believe that, in order to smear Bernie and hurt his chances for nomination. It should be obvious the smart de facto dictator is capable of thinking more than one step ahead.
Anyway, neither the Putin propaganda channels nor the Trump administration's spin can be trusted. So, there's no reliable evidence proving this allegation to be true. Where are those Russian agents helping Bernie? Name one.
1
A good many Americans would also hate President Bernie Sanders. So?
2
"Russian interference" in American elections? How many countries has the U.S. invaded when we did not "approve" of their elections, political parties, overthrows or revolutions?...that would include the U.S. and UK invasion of Russia. You didn't learn about that in school? The Russians did.
2
@Mark Shyres
And what about the interference from the Saudis, the UAE, Israel and a cabal of billionaires? I guess that doesn't fit the neocon narrative.
Putin wants Sanders to win the nomination not because he assures Trump of victory which may or not be the case. With Sanders vs. Trump Putin wins no matter who prevails. The US will have elected a president supported by only the slimmest of a majority or perhaps even minority support and we and Russia can look forward to a country tearing itself apart for another 4 years.
1
The Kremlin's decision to 'support' Sanders would have been made several weeks ago before Sanders had established himself as Democrat front runner.
As you pointed out Michelle supporting Sanders would serve a divide and conquer strategy that would have aided Trump.
But 'support' is hardly the word if you mean those nasty, cruel online attacks coming from the 'Bernie Bros'.
Michael Moore in a recent 'Rumble' podcast suggested that every candidate has a small minority of fanatics. But if there's a sizeable number they encourage each other and turn up to and try to disrupt opposition events. Where are these extreme fanatics? They have no physical presence. If they only exist on-line then maybe they aren't real at all. In all likelihood they are fake.
In the last week Sanders also disowned these online attackers purporting to support him. He suggested they probably came from the Kremlin.
Ms. Goldberg, while I appreciate and agree with your thoughtful commentary, I wish you and everyone else in the media would stop labelling Senator Sanders as a socialist ("If enough Americans unite across racial lines to replace Trump with a Jewish socialist, it might mean..."). When the fourth estate continues to use a term that, on its own (yes, I get that you put it in lower case, but most in this country will not get that distinction), means something very different from Sanders' long held stance as a "social democrat," you woefully misrepresent his political ideology. Please, stop with the "socialist" labelling. Bernie is not a Socialist, either in Marxist terms (a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of Communism) or in standard economic theory (social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole). Most of our citizens could use a crash course right now in the distinction between Socialism and social democracy.
8
@Christopher Fenger
Bernie has labeled himself as a socialist. Since he began taking a run for the presidency seriously, he has attempted to reframe "socialist" as "democratic socialist". He has only himself to blame for that label:
https://www.politifact.com/article/2015/aug/26/bernie-sanders-socialist-or-democratic-socialist/
1
"Under Trump, the U.S. has abandoned the pretense of backing democracy and human rights, meaning there are no longer any great powers that even pretend to put morality at the center of foreign affairs. The horror of this era isn’t just the emergence of an axis of authoritarianism, but the fact that there are so few allies to counter it." -more HS blog post. Can I read an article with such hyperbole anymore?
1
While many of Senator Sanders goals are laudable, he still hasn’t explained how he will get there. The medical industry does employ a lot of people to handle claims, etc., and they lose their jobs under Medicare for all. What are the new jobs for them? Same for other areas that will be impacted by Sanders plans. While better than Trump I do believe that Sanders has some of same tendencies particularly with playing to his base. Outside of the occasional platitude I don’t see him uniting the country.
2
Whether or not Putin would prefer a Sanders presidency isn't even the point. Russia wants Sanders to be the nominee because it would probably ensure a Trump re-election, which is Putin's ultimate goal. The argument that Sanders would energize a broad base of voters is nonsensical. He doesn't even have majority support within the Democratic party. And what some fail to realize is that Republicans and center right Independents still support Trump's policies even if they are disgusted with his behavior. If they are going to abandon Trump, it isn't going to be for a candidate like Sanders. This isn't 2016. Voters aren't looking to tear down the system.
4
Imagine how much worse McGovern’s loss would have been if he looked and sounded like Bernie.
3
Senator Sanders shouldn't be taken seriously unless he wins the Democratic nomination for President, because at this point he will says whatever is necessary in order to achieve that. But, then his views on foreign policy will be listened to, and I hope for his political sake he sharpens his positions, which now are full of naivete about what it takes to effectively use American power in this world, and sounds like nothing so much as the 1976 version of Jimmy Carter, before that man figured out what the world was really like. The Senator also needs to work on his "credulous" views of leftist authoritarian regimes. His response to questions about his views on Cuba were surprisingly unsophisticated, and were no different from what one heard during a typical garden club meeting of a local socialist group during the era of the cold war. If that type of thinking is as deep as the Senator gets, then his worldview is as shallow as anything President Trump evinces.
3
The story of Republican treason to undermine Carter never got told because Bush 41 preemptively pardoned the players.
2
Putin is backing Bernie because he sees that as the best way to reelect his favorite asset; Trump. Bernie wouldn't be under Putin's thumb the way Trump is. However if Bernie wins the primaries, he is going to get crushed by Trump, which is why Putin is backing him. Bernie had a chance to talk to the nervous moderates in the Democratic party and the few remaining in the Republican party yesterday and he responded by praising Castro and boycotting AIPAC. We're in trouble.
4
Putin is way smarter than Sanders' supporters. Putin is pushing for Sanders to get the nomination because he knows that Sanders will be clobbered by Trump in the general election, which is what he wants. Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC called Trump a Russian operative. I don't think so. An operative or "asset" takes orders and assignments from the boss and intentionally carries them out. Trump is merely Putin's unwitting dupe - his puppet - who by his incompetence, stupidity and eggshell ego is doing Putin's work for him. Putin is loving this.
4
"Stalinist madman Kim Jong-un."
Umm, a shred of evidence to back up the assertion that he is either Stalinist or a madman, please?
Evil, incontrovertibly. Stalinist, no. Madman, no.
1
The comments in the Times--and quite a few of the editorials as well--are starting to remind me of a moment in Arthur Penn's movie version of Berger's "Little Big Man." The hero, Jack Crabb,who has sworn to destroy General George Armstrong Custer, happens to run into him on his way to the Little Big Horn. Should Jack Crabb lie to Custer and tell him there's no Sioux and Cheyenne to fear? Instead, he tells the General the unvarnished truth--to which the general replies with a paranoid rant on the order of: "How clever of you to tell me the truth believing I'll think you'll think I won't believe your lies--but I have outwitted you once again! etc." And marches off to disaster.
Your endlessly gullible commentators are the Custers of the Dems. Pass the popcorn, Vlad.
2
Perhaps Putin would hate President Bernie Sanders. But Stalin would have loved him.
2
@JJ Gross
Though the Times will likely not publish this, had it not been for Stalin defeating German fascism (and I'm no fan) Jews would likely be extinct and I, much less Israelis would certainly not exist.
Hitler was a National Socialist. As if that has even a remote resemblance to Democratic Socialist. Sanders is what I'd call a Denmarkian Capitalist. Labels shouldn't matter but they do and GOPpers don't care about facts (actually, they hate facts because reality has a liberal bias).
4
Another reason to vote for Sanders
2
As an American second generation Swede with many years of travels to the Scandinavian countries, I have a message for all Americans:
The Scandinavian form of Social Democracy model could be your new reality.
Youth Free Education Through University. Job Opportunities. Free Medical Care. Low Addiction Rates. Low Suicide Rates. Minimal Personal Debt. A Fulfilling Life. A Happy Retirement.
It is time for all who voted for Donald Trump to Wake Up.
Your lives and the lives of your children and grandchildren and great grand-children could be like the lives of the fortunate Scandinavians: And many of the Canadians and Europeans too. Oh yes, and all the other countries around the world that also follow Social Democratic precepts.
Vote for Bernie Sanders. Who knows what will come of it?
www.InquiryAbraham.com.
3
It is not the government’s place to aim to make my life better by engineering solutions. The capitalist free market determines both the value of my labor and the cost of living. If the two are close, I may be comfortable. If they are wide apart, then that is the life I lead. The one the market justifies, not the one I think I’m entitled to.
3
Enough with the Scandi-mania. The Scandinavian model rests on the shoulders of a tiny, homogenous population with shared cultural traditions built over centuries. The positive aspects of their culture are not the result of government programs. It is the positive aspects of their culture that are reflected in government programs.
Family, community, and shared traditions/ethics are what make the system possible. This is why these countries are now struggling as they welcome immigrants from very different cultures. It is exposing racism more rabid than anything we have here in the US.
It is so easy to make your country look good when the rule is “no poor people allowed”.
5
@From Where I Sit If you sit in NYC, then think about all those service workers doing all those jobs that all you " I provide valuable labor and therefore I can afford the cost of living where I sit" use every day. Think about how NYC is becoming truly unaffordable for these workers, and about how more and more are being pushed out to the hinterlands to spend 2 hours on on transit and much of their paycheck on the cost.
Solutions? Oh who needs government solutions? Maybe you would prefer robots instead.
2
What would Putin do if Sanders won the WH?
He would immediately send his planes and tanks to seize Ukraine.
3
Reading these comments is making my head spin. For every pro-Bernie (or candidate of your choice) argument there's an equally valid sounding anti- argument!
I just wonder how President Sanders (or Democrat of your choice) will get anything done if Mitch McConnell is still in power.
Meanwhile, I caucused for Elizabeth Warren last week, have a Bloomberg sticker on my car, and still don't know who I'm supporting!
Vote blue no matter who.
1
Good piece but Ms Goldberg misses the most important reason that Putin would hate a Sanders presidency; oil. The Green New Deal and Bernie's push to renewable energy would be very, very bad for Putin's economy which depends for around 40% of their GDP on oil and gas exports. Juan Cole explains it beautifully: https://www.juancole.com/2020/02/actually-terrified-presidency.html
2
The intelligence community repeatedly has noted that Putin in 2016 supported Trump and does so today. There are obvious reasons Trump is to Putin's advantage. And there have been rumors of Putin having videos of Trump being his usual lascivious self and probably there are incriminating financial documents.
Putin in 2016 and again today favors Sanders to get the Democratic nomination. This is different. First, Hillary Clinton 1n 2016 was more popular than Trump though she did not win the electoral college. She was a seasoned foe of Russia and in particular of Putin's expansionism. Anything to hurt her chances, Putin wanted to do. Second, it looks like Putin calculates (as I do, and as Democrats in Congress in swing areas do) that Sanders not only cannot get elected, but also he will drag down many Democratic candidates. This would be vastly to Putin's advantage.
The more spineless Republicans in Congress, the better for Putin's conquests.
3
Michelle: please understand the sequence: Putin puts his indicted St. Petersburg super-hackers (on the same computers with the same IP addresses well known to Muller team) to run over any Dem getting in the way of Sanders nomination. Lies and half-truth are effective combination.
After Sanders nomination, they + another hundred super-hackers play up the underbelly of any and everything negative associated with the word "socialism" and paint Sanders as a first-cousin of Charles Manson. Mind the sequence: Putin's tells have led us there.
2
Two things. Anything that Trump or his sycophants say, assume the opposite. And Sanders hates and rails against Oligarchs consistently. So it is a given that he does not support Putin and his buddies that steal from their people and their country.
1
Also can you believe all this Castro stuff coming out I believe Bernie was given one example that came out of Castro time in power. Sorta like Duterte eliminating drugs in his country (a good thing) but how many did he kill along the way. Sorta like the United States government giving native Americans small pox soak blankets.
Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will be this country's last, best chance.
4
Nice try Michelle. Bernie and Vladimir are a match made in the Kremlin and Ms. Goldberg has just blown her Russian cover as GNU agent in this lame attempt of reattaching Trump to Russian collusion. One would think that this one-trick pony had been sent to the glue factory, only to be resurrected by fake news again. Not even KGB agents Pelosi, Schiff, and Nadler would revisit that ruse so quickly.
Front runner Bernie Sanders has been biding his time rereading the Manifesto and lining his shelves with Marxist propaganda to pander to his college faithful. It is looking so good Putin is no longer pouting
4
No, the Russian autocrat does not favor Bernie Sanders. No one has produced evidence of that. And as far as the deep state players who keep pushing that meme, let's not forget this was the same 'intelligence' community who stood by and watched the Obama Administration hand the world's largest uranium mining reserves over to the Russians as a diplomatic gift.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html
1
@BlackJack Hi! We in the USA buy most of our uranium from Russia as spent product of decommissioned missiles, etc. It's incredibly awful to the environment to mine. The Canadian who owns the US based mine that the Russian energy company was allowed to buy a share of (no uranium can leave our shores w/out approval of 9 depts) really only wants access to Balkan area minerals the Canadians other mines hold. So, State Dept only gave okay for sale of stake after 9 other depts gave the go-ahead, Clinton Foundation was coordinating incredible collaborative global research in areas the Russian donor's new girl-friend wanted to support - food insecurity, drought, education of women, hydro-engineering, agriculture, etc. No Uranium is Going Anywhere. Relax.
I fear the anti-semitism coming our way if Bernie is elected and crashes our economy
1
@Matthew It’s coronavirus fault if economy crashes. Give credit where it’s due.
Amazingly, large segments of society and under the delusion that Bernie Sanders will help the weak, particularly Blacks and Hispanics.
With open border immigration, tens of millions of Latinos will enter the country and take away jobs that disproportionately affect minorities. The immigrants are not taking away jobs from Park Avenue investment bankers, doctors or lawyers.
College loan forgiveness overwhelming benefits Whites. Its a giant taxpayer subsidy to the top 25% of well to do and wealthy, soon to be wealthier. Shouldn't the money be paid to retraining blue collar and factory workers who lost their job from automation?
Medicare for all is going to be so massively expensive that the average household will be paying 30K in additional taxes, which is not a problem for billionaires, but will bankrupt the working class. For Bernie Bros out there please share the numbers with us instead of just railing that once the greed and corruption is eliminated, there will be plenty for everyone. I escaped communism and tell you I always worry when someone says, I have to take away your choice or freedom so that we all benefit in the long run. It never works out.
1
I'm old enough to remember how "unelectable" Reagan was in 1980. Too old and radical, they said. He not only got elected, he introduced a seismic electoral paradigm shift that lasted for forty years and counting. Beware the ides of March...they fast approach with a Super-Tuesday verdict that bodes well for the left and all those young people willing to leave labels behind in the name of saving the country and its Constitution.
1
I listened to Bernie's town hall on CNN and was impressed with his calm and pointed answers to every question asked of him. No dodging. No equivocation. He looked and sounded presidential. America is in need of a major course correction and Bernie Sanders just may be the person to pull that off.
9
"It’s certainly true that at times Sanders has been embarrassingly credulous about communist regimes."
Is that "certainly true," Ms. Collins?
Most I can see from the deluge of reports on Sanders 'past statements' is that Sanders - like other liberals and progressives of his generation - broke with the most right wing elements of Cold War thinking, seeking detente and diplomacy and trying to get citizens on both sides of the Iron Curtain to form a more positive view of each other - not to defend their governments, but so people with different ideologies could see each other as people and head off a nuclear apocalypse.
In practice, that meant not total condemnation of Communist regimes, but being able to say that - however much we rejected their oppression - they had done something 'socialist' that was good - literacy in Cuba, for example.
No doubt he opposed US involvement in the Vietnam War too, which, in Cold War terms, was attacked as 'siding with the Russians.'
Saying he was "credulous"...that's a Cold War liberal defense liberals got stuck in when - hauled up before Congress - they were forced into humiliating apologetics for having 'flirted with communism.'
2
Bernie’s Medicare for all is a harebrained idea that will simply result in a two tier healthcare system. The rich will pay for private healthcare and the best docs and hospitals will flock to serve them. The rest of us will have good enough for government healthcare that we are forced to pay for and have no alternative but to use.
4
Current Medicare doesn’t work that way. Why would expanded Medicare work that way? Why would politicians enact it? Why would voters accept it?
3
Plenty of docs do not accept Medicare. Others rip it off because there is no economic incentive for consumers to be informed about actual costs and alternative options that are cheaper and possibly more effective.
You either end up with an open checkbook approach that bankrupts the Treasury (as current Medicare entitlements are already forecasted to do) or you put budget constraints in place and the system devolves into a two tier system I describe. When you remove the market, you centralize decision making and the system becomes brittle and prone to failure.
Far better to enact reforms that enforce transparency in medical billing, promote nutrition and other preventative behaviors, and educate consumers on the efficacy of various procedures (e.g. overuse of heart stents, hip replacements, back surgery, prescription drugs) and stop rewarding docs for “pills and procedures”.
1
Putin would love to have Sanders in the oval office. Sanders, like Trump, would sow rancorous division in this country and would perpetuate political gridlock. He's philosophically unprepared to counter Russian aggression, not only militarily but in the arena of international business and trade.
4
@PWR - Unprepared to counter Russian aggression, hmmm? Just like Trump in handing over Northern Syria, undermining the USA intelligence agencies, laying out the red carpet to Russian oligarchs to influence the American top branches of government and undermining NATO while weakening the US relationship with traditional democratic countries while embracing far right-wing philosophy favoring Russia & totalitarian type governments. Since when does Sanders ever condone any of this type of duplicitous type behavior on the side of the Republican apparatus? Has Sanders ever had secret meeting with Russian's leaders without any person in the room recording the conversation? Would Sanders invite Russians into the White House & refuse the record & contents to the press while Americans only find out some of the information of what transpired through the Putin controlled Russian media? Only in America can these two diametrically opposed be conflated to be one of the same conspiring with Putin to undermine the American democracy.
5
@Dunca
To point out Sanders' own attractiveness to Russia as an American candidate or as president is not to endorse Trump in any way. That's why Putin would like to see them run against each other.
The point of the briefings to both the Congress and to Sanders is that Russia clearly is meddling in this election, not who Russia wants to be president.
They will meddle in the dog catcher's race if they think it will sow discord, increase anxiety, mistrust and violence in our country and other countries in the world.
A house divided against itself cannot stand. This leaves Russia, under a autocracy, to step in and reap the spoils of all the division they sow.
This is the point. Russia doesn't care so much who wins as much as that we are lost in confusion and shoot ourselves in the foot.
Michelle is absolutely right. That said, what matters in the general election is not reality, but what Trump can gaslight the voters into believing—his one great talent. Nevertheless the notion that a weak primary candidate (Biden, Buttegeig, Klobuchar) will magically become the strongest general election candidate seems crazy to me. If Bernie wins the primary, even with a plurality, we should support him wholeheartedly. He may be overly optimistic, but I’d take that over the current kleptocracy any day!
8
Do we care who Xi prefers? If you want insight into how Putin thinks, watch his interviews with Oliver Stone back in 2016. Putin said it didn’t matter who was elected President...the U.S. policy towards Russia was always the same, directed by people that are not the President. Now that is prescience.
3
Putin, probably surprising even himself, hit the jackpot with trump. The USA, the pillar of western democracies, was the long shot in Russia's plan to destabilize the west. And he's succeeded beyond even what he considered possible. And no matter who the US puts in the oval office Russia will continue to influence western democracies. And probably succeed.
2
@RNS The President has led the way in making the US the world's top porter of energy. Bernie wants to ban fracking which would cause the US to its lesser status as a producer of energy, which would be of great help to Russia as 70% of its economy is based on oil and gas. For this reason alone, Putin would love to see a President Sanders in office.
Goldberg engages in a lot of mind reading with her interpretation of the President's words. She would do a better job if she devoted more analysis of his actions, such as Trump providing Ukraine with Javelin Missiles to defend themselves against Russia. His policies and sanctions have been very tough on Russia. Yet, you would never know from reading Goldberg's columns.
1
Trump rolled out the welcome mat for Putin in Syria. Thousands died, and some hundred thousand fled. All for what?
Trump denies Putin interfered in the 2016 election, despite the consensus of 14 intelligence agencies. Confronted with reports Putin is supporting Sanders now, what is Trump’s reaction? To thwart Putin? No! To use it politically to attack Sanders.
That’s not mind reading.
1
Putin doesn’t support anybody. He wants us to have less faith in our democratic process which is what he dislikes so much. He wishes to sow seeds of discontent so people will say that election results are invalid, just like you have with Trumps election. Putin didn’t want Trump elected, he wanted you to say that the results of our democratic election were invalid which you have done repeatedly. You have fallen for his trap.
10
Michelle:
I have a feeling that Putin would feel the same way about Bernie.
Sadly, so do many of us here is the US of A who would vote differently.
Surely there is a leader here somewhere....
Anyone? Anyone?
2
Bernie honyeymooned in Russia. Big deal. The important qustion is, did he stay at the Ritz?
4
Putin need not worry. Clintonistas hate Bernie so thoroughly they would prefer Trump over the one they still blame for their own loss. They are more loyal to Wall Street than to Main Street.
2
You're right. And since the Russians are manipulating Bernie to a candidacy, this will cement the deal and guarantee a reelection of their puppet.
2
Ms. Goldberg offers no evidence for her assertion that Bernie wouldn't be a "stooge", as she puts it, for Putin, other than Bernie's assertion that, although he praises Cuba and China, he is not a fan of Putin. What is particularly disturbing is that Ms. Goldberg was not satisfied when Trump asserted he was not a stooge of Putin. In fact, she demanded a special prosecutor to investigate the allegation. So why is she just asserting Bernie's innocence? Why isn't she demanding a special investigator to investigate Bernie, so we can know the truth? We all know the answer -- she's acknowledging that Bernie's going to get the nomination and is now starting the long march to get him accepted by the non-socialists voters.
1
@Ulysses But everyone knows that Trump is a stooge of Putin. His own little [although obese] puppet.
Funny that Mueller and two dozen very smart and experienced anti-Trump prosecutors weren’t able to find any evidence of collusion or puppetry after dozens of witnesses, thousands of documents, millions of dollars, and 2 years of effort. But for some of you, it’s just a matter of faith, regardless of the lack of evidence.
Putin likely doesn’t care who wins. He just wants to support divisiveness and an America that de-emphasizes globalism. Sanders would gut the military - a plus for Putin’s Russia. He would also slow the American economy through socialism and high taxes. Another plus for Russia. But Sanders does not like Putin - a billionaire who supports oligarch led corporate corruption. Sanders likely also dislikes fact that Russia has largely moved away from socialism. But will Sanders do anything more than criticize Putin as a corrupt billionaire and being a pathological liar? I doubt it.
2
A complete waste of time here. Who cares what the Russians do? Really? Who cares? Common causes: climate change and bolstering the world's healthcare readiness, not to mention getting a reliable way of disposing of nuclear waste (Hear that Elon Musk: instead of 40,000 Starlink satellites, maybe we could do Space-X test-disposures of very small amounts of nuclear waste to the sun, so we can have a 'bridge fuel' to get us to the renewable-energy future...after all, we put a man on the moon some sixty years ago!!!). But Michelle, the Russia-deal is an old bogeyman trope, and we've all moved on, so how about something fresh??? "...authoritarian kleptocracy...." isn't going anywhere Michelle; it's been around since time immemorial, and there's only been democratic regulation to assuage its wrath around the world. Join the club, get off the neo-nationalist reaction to a globalism-gone-wild, and look for common causes. Putin and Kim Jung Un have shelf-lives as well.
1
It seems ridiculously obvious what Putin is doing. He is 'supporting" Bernie for Trump. Then it can be said "he's just like us, ex communists. It's all for Trump not Bernie.
3
"[I]f...Sanders becomes president, Putin may live to regret what his country did to build support for him."
What Russia "did"? Goldberg's statement is not only false but irresponsible.
1) False: there is no evidence Russia has lifted a finger to affect 2020 elections: the CIA intelligence is so vague as to be worthless - "Russia intended to interfere with the 2020 Democratic primaries as well as the general," is how the NYT reported it several days ago.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/us/politics/russian-interference-trump-democrats]
Yet in Goldberg's comment, supposed "intent" has already morphed into what Russia "did."
False: intent to interfere, or even preference for Trump has already been contradicted by high intelligence officials:
"US intelligence briefer appears to have overstated assessment of 2020 Russian interference:"
"[N]ational security adviser...O'Brien...flatly den[ied] the existence of an intelligence assessment regarding Russian interference aimed at helping Trump....'[T]here's no briefing that I've received, that the President has received, that says that...Putin is doing anything to try and influence the elections in favor of President Trump. We just haven't seen that intelligence. If it's out there, I haven't seen it. I'd be surprised if I haven't seen it.'"
2) Goldberg's repeating false statements is also irresponsible because it will nonetheless cast doubt on the validity of primary results favoring Sanders.
3
Sanders is our best choice to Make America Great Again.
1
When you want to know what a leader will do, you need to look at their core constituency. Bernies core constituency is the illiberal-left—what people call bernie bros.
So no, Bernie will not be a disappointment to Putin. While not as idiotic and lazy as Trump, Bernie and his bros sow resentment in order to reap instability: just the crop Putin loves best.
3
"Russia's investment in Donald Trump has paid off handsomely." ????????
Donald Trump is a national disgrace. He must be defeated in November.
But I don't see how increasingly severe sanctions against Russia and the recent American attempt to obstruct and interfere in the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany are signs that for the Russians Trump "is paying off handsomely." Simply makes no sense.
1
Bernie is not a Socialist. He is a Democratic Socialist The two are very different Please explain this to your readers
2
@WJ Well that's what he calls himself sometimes:
https://www.politifact.com/article/2015/aug/26/bernie-sanders-socialist-or-democratic-socialist/
People please please be careful what you wish for, and who you vote for. Yes Sanders has a vision, of an egalitrian multiracial social democracy. **sounds great** right?
But think for a minute. What would happen to this country if there was that level of "revolutionary" change? What is a revolution? A revolutuon is a forced, BIG change, tearing down systems, ripping up traditions, overthrowing power structures. I fear our economic system would collapse in such a scenario. And Putin would LOVE that. Bernie paints a vision, but states he wants to accomplish it via revolution, and offers not one plan how he would accomplish it. He has expressed admiration for Chavez. The take- from- the rich/give -to -the- poor 'revolutionary'. Look at Cuba now, is this what you really want?
I wish the media would ask Bernie the hard questions, press him on how he expects to accomplish his vision, what exactly does he mean when he invokes his ' revolution', does he want a Cuban style government, etc? How high would our middle class income taxes actually go? Are you really willing to pay 40 to 50 percent of your income to taxes? What would you gain by it? Would a Wall Street crash benefit or harm this country? What happened in VT with universal healthcare? What exactly did Bernie accomplish in VT?
2
Putin and his minions support Sanders because they know the puppet will win if Sanders is the candidate.
3
......and that is why Russia needed Biden out of the picture.....which is why president withheld funds to get Ukraine to investigate Biden. Conspiracy? Connect the events (and private Putin and president meetings and calls).
Thanks for this, Michelle. It is clear from the NY Times' headlines and the general tenor of their articles on Sanders that the Gray Lady is going to do what it can to stop the true populist movement in the U.S. It's refreshing to have a columnist in this establishment schmatte who actually sees some value in the man.
Putin would hate Nancy Pelosi even more, especially since he, like Trump, can't handle strong women. And what a boost for Russian women.
1
Bernie Sanders cannot be the Democrat's Trump simply because he is not corrupt. Or stupid. Putin would never support somebody without those two characteristics because Putin needs to own the American president. Putin succeeded with Trump but he will never have Sanders.
Believe me. I do not even like Sanders. But maybe I should take a little bit of my own medicine and remember that I do not have to like somebody to vote for her. Just vote for the one that can do the job best. I just have to like people I invite over for dinner.
2
Putin's worst nightmare would be if president Sanders, sends Warren to look into his kleptocracy. When his stolen Russian money is exposed, he will be finished both at home and abroad.
3
Don’t worry Ms. Goldberg, Putin won’t have to worry about dealing with a President Sanders. #ABB Anyone But Bernie
You know who else would hate a President Sanders and would suffer much cognitive dissonance over his election?
Netanyahu.
I can't wait.
3
Putin need not worry. Clintonistas hate Bernie so thoroughly they would prefer Trump over their imaginary enemy. They are more loyal to Wall Street than to Main Street.
The NYT can't stop believing that Russia elected President Trump. The people chose her over a worn out political hack who happened to be named Clinton. The more the NYT and WaPo complain about Russian interference the more the Russians gain. By the way, who paid for the Steele dossier? If I'm not mistaken Mrs. Clinton.
3
There is a lot to say here, but I will be brief. Michelle Goldberg is not a liberal. She is to the left of the Left. She comes to the "Times" from he Nation . And Michelle, Bernie Sanders does not identify as a Jew. You should know that.
Ms. Goldberg needs to explain how this Jewish socialist welcomes the support of Linda Sarsour and like-minded sectarians. Quoting Steven Emerson, Executive Director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, "We were quite shocked in discovering the number of brazenly and openly anti-Semitic advisers and surrogates who have embraced Senator Bernie Sanders or whom he has embraced..."
I remember way back when Edwin Edwards (Democrat) was running for another term for governor of Louisiana. He opening supported the Republican candidacy of David Duke over much more qualified candidates. Now, why would someone do such a thing? He knew that facing Duke, KKK guy, in the general election would guarantee that he, Edwards, a crook and conman much hated by so many in the state, would get re-elected. And so he did.
I think this is why Russia wants Bernie to face Trump.
While any Democratic candidate would be better than Trump, a Sanders administration, provided it could get things done, would remove a lot of oxygen from the right wing nut bars who have taken over the world. If he could implement even half of what he wants, especially regarding climate change, it would change the world.
1
My Lord are you naive. Putin isn’t “supporting” Sanders because he wants him to be president - he knows that’s NEVER going to happen. He’s interfering in favor of Bernie because (a) he’s the most polarizing and divisive of the candidates and therefore serves Putin’s purpose of keeping America at war with itself, and (b) he knows just how brutally effective the Republicans will be in destroying Sanders with al of the stupid things he’s done that will alienate everyone between the coasts who still loves their country. And then we’ll be left with Trump, who will be free to finish dismantling what’s left of American democracy. It’s Putin’s dream scenario, and you’re just naive enough to walk right into it. The whole Sanders phenomenon is built on the backs of jist that kind of foolish delusion.
2
we the left out, we the future
1
What a shock! Ms. Goldberg supporting an old white man, the class she castigates most.
Putin may not enjoy President Sanders, but Hamas will love him!
I also subscribe (or have subscribed) to the Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal (and others). Of the qualities that set the NYT apart from from its rivals, one of the most important (to me) is the range of commentary.
There is often much value (aside from amusement) from reading Bedbug Brett Stephens, Altar boy Ross Douthat, Clueless (but well meaning) David Brooks.
I try not to miss anything written by Paul Krugman and Thomas B. Edsall (and a few others). But somehow Michelle Goldberg’s writing stands out with the right combination of seriousness and accessibility in her prose.
The only thing that makes me sad about voting in NH for Bernie, is that I couldn’t also vote for Warren. It’s still not clear who will win the Dem nomination, but whoever it is (with trimp running the GOP into a dark abyss), in November we will be voting for the rule of law v the right of oligarchs to do whatever they want.
That means we will be voting for hope for the vulnerable and the precarious against the forces that what to crush all hope to preserve the “freedom” of the 0.1%.
Well, I’m sure the NYT will do everything within its power to secure Trump another four years. If Bernie wins Super Tuesday the “vetting” in the corporate media will begin in earnest.
Bernie Sanders was the prime beneficiary of Russian and WikiLeaks’ meddling in the 2016 election.The Mueller Report notes that Julian Assange despised Hillary Clinton, who he described as “sadistic sociopath.” It reveals that Wikileaks contacted Guccifer 2.0—the persona of Russian intelligence operatives—and asked for “anything Hillary related” because the Democratic National Convention was approaching. WikiLeaks told Guccifer 2.0 that “we think Trump has only a 25% chance of winning against Hillary so conflict between Bernie and Hillary is interesting.”
Guccifer 2.0 sent WikiLeaks 20,000 emails and other documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee computer networks. They revealed the DNC had been stacking the deck against Bernie to ensure Hillary won the Democratic Party nomination. The WikiLeaks exposé, which forced the resignation of DNC cochair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, angered and energized Sanders supporters, but Hillary won the nomination anyway.
Today, the DNC hack is considered the prime example of Russian interference in the 2016 election. People forget that it influenced only the Clinton v Sanders contest.The only emails that mattered in the Clinton v. Trump contests were classified State Department emails the FBI—not Russia —found on Hillary’s unauthorized home server.
Source: Muller report, Vol. 1, Page 45
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/1
1
After reading your naive, Sanders boosterism, I am convinced it's not Trump but you, Ms Goldberg, who seems to be a Russian asset.
1
What Putin would hate most about a Sanders Presidency is the inability to extort Sanders with video tape of Sanders cavorting with Russian prostitutes and to bribe Sanders with financial help for Sanders' failing business enterprises.
1
Yep. Perhaps some of your colleagues who seem to be repeating the Trump/Republican propaganda should read this column for a reality check.
Polls are worthless. Only votes count.
1
Maybe some of you smart peeps can help this UT hick understand something?
Russia's military budget is $61B (down 23% from '16 due to their rotten economy). They spend only 7% as much on War as all NATO countries combined, less than 10% of the US alone. Their GDP is 14th globally, smaller than Brazil, Italy, New York state and Texas. They're half the size of California and less than 8% of the US. By all accounts, their economy is in the toilet.
How is Russia such a supposed global boogeyman? If they're actually good enuf' to cause all the disruption assigned to them, doncha' think they'd be able to make their country function better? Are they that much more capable than we are that they're able to be a "global threat" while spending dimes vs dollars?
Or (pause to don tin-foil hat) are they really a Paper Bear? A monster-under-the-bed that's not really there when you look, a Be-Afraid-Be-Very-Afraid illusion that the MIC and the War Profiteers rattle in the dark to keep us malleable and afraid? Is Russia the convenient enemy-du-jour that justifies spending gobs of our tax dollars on profitable, Perpetual War, with all of it's money-making, hidden corruption?
Why doesn't US, with all it's Might and Power, squash 'em like a grape (metaphorically, of course - w/ sanctions, internal disruptions, shunning…)? Maybe some of you smart folks know the answer?
1
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has put the hands of the nuclear clock closer to midnight than ever before. The dangers of a nuclear exchange between the United State and Russia--which would cause a nuclear winter that would wipe out civilization and perhaps the human race--have never been greater. The massive build up of US and other NATO troops on Russia's borders, the proxy war waged by the US against Russia, by the Ukrainian puppet government set up by a CIA/fascist coup, the constant campaign of fear and hatred against Russia in the American media--are all part of an aggressive US policy that is putting the world in danger . . . . Instead of preferring Presidential candidates based on the degree of global hatred they would provoke, wouldn't it be better to pick a candidate who might negotiate differences peacefully--and stop the mad rush toward World War Three?
1
Good try! We already know who Bernie is...Putin will be in hog’s heaven! They can now support Cuba and Venezuela together.
Every Democrat for a century ignored the Russian threat. Sanders honeymooned there. Carter urged us to lose our “inordinate fear”. They demanded that we talk, deal, and “freeze”. They “saw the future and it works”. This paper won Pulitzers telling outright lies about it. “Flexible” BHO castigated Romney for calling Russia a “geopolitical adversary”. On occasion, prominent Democrats were actual Russian spies.
What’s the difference between Communist Russia under Brezhnev and “autocratic” Russia under Putin? You admit Sanders’s “embarrassing credulity” about tyranny; what makes anyone believe he’s become less credulous?
Democracy is not a positive good; it depends upon what you’re voting on. Government based on "egalitarianism"? See “credulity”, supra. Then, the group-think adjectives in front of the word “justice”. Those expressions are the hallmarks of a tyrant who has not repented of his tyrannical sympathies.
“Zero sum contests for power” PRECISELY defines US leftist economic/group-think policy. Leftists condemn “inequality”; they believe that for A to be rich, B must be poor. To achieve “justice” (based on group), individuals (of the “wrong” group) must suffer.
Putin isn’t the one stoking “tribal fears”; the race-obsessed US campus left and this editorial page are.
Socialism IS tyranny and group-think IS unAmerican poison. Electing man whose life-long ambition is to destroy freedom is just what Russian MD ordered. Putin would be delighted.
1
Yes, Putin would hate Sanders as US president. Social justice has nothing to do with this guy, a despot.
2
>>>In this project, Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset.
Given his behavior.... and his financial situation, I can't help but wonder if Trump is a conscious Russian asset.
2
In 1963, at 16, I was in the crowd that heard Dr. King deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech. Saturday night, just days before turning 73, I was standing in a crowd of 5,000 young people, just yards from Senator Sanders in the cavernous Cowboys Dance Hall here in San Antonio, as "Tio Bernie" spelled out, point by point, his plan for how, working together, all of us can help turn this country around.
The cheers of these young people rebounded off the ceiling. Senator Sanders was talking about troubles that are as real to them as the kitchen table. I ought to know. I just spent the past quarter century teaching English to beautiful young people like them in an inner-city community college here in San Antonio. (They've taught me a lot too, of course.)
I think that Michelle Goldberg is wise to acknowledge that no one can know what is going to happen. I'm not a starry-eyed person. I've seen a lot of bad things happen, thank you very much, and I expect to see many more. But the raw power of the love blazing from these young women and men shook me profoundly. If you bet heavily against them, you MIGHT not collect. Just sayin.'
570
Thank you for sharing. I can relate to your experience, seeing the energy exulted in the young students at my Bernie phone bank at Barnard College. They are filled with hope and belief.
We are going to change the future for better!
#Bernie2020
59
@Steve Badrich my kids were for Bernie back on 2016 as well. They never wavered. My son a school teacher in the poorest district of NYC has reaffirmed his backing Bernie. He came home wearing a Bernie button. Proudly. His students come from poor households many of them have been accepted to good colleges and beside scholarship they just don’t have any options. Poor things, they did everything right.
53
@Steve Badrich
It is a terrible, dishonest slur to equate Bernie's rallies with Trump's. People come out of Bernie's with joy and hope in their hearts; people come out of Trump's with hate and malice.
It is pretty simple: Which future do you want?
79
Bernie shockingly does not believe in capitalism and the power of free markets despite overwhelming evidence that they are responsible for lifting billions out of poverty over the last 50 years. Government’s job is to curtail the excesses of capitalism, not replace it with central planning and nationalization of major industries.
Look at Bernie’s record, these are the policies he has been promoting for decades. He believes whole-heartedly in the benevolent power of the state. Our country was founded on the principle that the state is not to be trusted and its thirst for power must always be constrained.
Johnson’s War on Poverty turned into a war on the impoverished as it trapped people in a welfare system that paid people to have children out of wedlock. The law of unintended consequences is brutal, but we seem to never learn our lesson as we seek to solve social problems with Federal programs; family and community cannot be replaced with bureaucrats.
2
Great analysis that adds the nuance that Julia Ioffe's GQ hit-piece is sorely missing. Cynicism is the life-blood of Putinism, and it's at the core of Trump's appeal too. The best way to save democracy is to get people to actually believe in it again. Does Bloomberg do that for you? No. Sanders does.
It's worth noting that Alexei Navalny, Russia's most famous anti-corruption campaigner and political dissident (and Putin's worst nightmare--he won't even allow Navalny's name to be uttered on state TV), has been on Twitter lately cheering on Bernie Sanders. I wonder why?
1
So my wife has been saying for many weeks, "this country is not going to elect a Jewish socialist in his 70's!" I chuckle as this declaration comes from a Jewish socialist in her 70's. More recently, our granddaughter, a first year college student and her friends unanimously declared "Bernie!" when I asked them who they would be voting for in their first presidential race. Not young, Mayor Pete. Not the progressive women in Warren or Klobuchar. Bernie has shown in three primaries that he has broad-based, diverse support within the Democratic Party. Look at the Latinx young people who showed up to vote for him in Nevada! My wife has shifted her opinion as Sanders has gained the broad-based support we need to defeat Trump. "The young people want him, and it is their future," she said this week. "If" we unite behind the Democratic candidate, we will win in November. As you lay out in your article Michelle, we will have a true champion as President for all the causes we care about in Sanders, "if" we ALL get out and vote for him.
4
Many commenters here observe that Sanders, and even more so his supporters, are isolationists. It’s worth noting that there are multiple aspects to the question of whether our foreign policy is or should be isolationist. An important distinction involves diplomatic vs. military engagement.
I would expect any Democratic nominee to support much more informed diplomatic engagement than the current administration has. That engagement would reverse the disastrous trend of naming sycophants with no experience as Ambassadors (this has been done in the past but not with the impunity of the current administration).
The second aspect that should be considered is our total level of military spending and deployment. We currently spend as much as the next 10 to 20 countries combined on defense. How isolationist would it be to reduce that to a level of that of the next 5 to 10 countries and apply the savings to a domestic agenda?
In the end diplomatic engagement would be vastly more cost effective and reduce the likelihood of armed conflict, which additionally imposes incalculable human costs. For example, which would be more expensive, war with Iran or multilateral inspections of their nuclear facilities? We need to mature as a nation beyond the view that we can or should impose our will by means of force. That’s not isolationism, it’s wisdom
2
@Ray Zielinski
So, moving away from exceptionalism, is what you consider isolationism? There are only two extremes plausible for you?
1
@LHP
No. I’m simply advocating against military exceptionalism. Preparedness is still necessary. But what we seem to take for granted in military spending is an unproductive and provocative excess. We need recalibration and not isolationism
None of these articles explain how Russia is helping Sanders. Is this information being withheld to protect sources and methods (doubtful). Has Sanders been told how, and if so, why isn't anyone asking him to disclose what Russia is supposedly doing. How can voters assess and combat those methods, if they don't know who and how this is supposedly being accomplished.
2
@Jerry Von Korff
Because it's another DNC neocon lie.
Just because Putin is helping Sanders to become the Democratic nominee in no way means that he wants Sanders to be president.
Once Sanders is nominated, watch the Russian backed social media attacks against Sanders to help Trump win again. Putin is playing 3-D chess while we're playing checkers.
3
Michelle, I too went to Moscow and Leningrad on my extended honeymoon in February 1977. Does that make me a Communist? My wife and I wanted to see what the Soviet Union was all about. My wife worked for an American music publisher that represented the Russian serious music catalogue in the US. She learned why it took so long to get sheet music from Moscow. I worked for an air carrier. I learned that the Tupolev TU-134, on which I flew from Moscow to Leningrad, had: a.) a glass nose to serve for a navigator and bombardier , 2.) used a break parachute on landing and 3.) had advanced landing gear fitted with low pressure tires for operations from unpaved air fields. It was the quietest landing I ever had .
I served in the US Army during the Vietnam war. I wanted to know what military service was all about. At the time, because of the draft, military service was a universal experience for American men of lower and middle class economic status. There were notable exceptions for wealthy people. John McCain and others served with honor. Donald Trump and others dodged the draft or went to Canada. Does serving in the U.S. Army make me a Fascist?
Robert O’Brien, Trump’s National Security adviser, is a political hack. He does not serve for the National Security- He serves to put out the Trump's propaganda.
7
The Big Lie in the GOP's propaganda regarding Bernie & Russia is that they're joined at the hip through their socialist philosophy. There's nothing socialist about 21st century oligarch-rich Russia – it is much more closely aligned with hard-right regimes around the world than with progressive democracies.
3
Bernie will be on Sixty Minutes this Sunday praising Fidel Castro, a breathtaking political gift to Trump that defies imagination.
Millions of Americans will be introduced to Sanders on Sunday, and this is what he talks about?
Does Bernie know how to play the political game? Does he secretly support Trump by antagonizing the swing state of Florida?
I now believe Sanders must be stopped. This is disqualifying.
1
@David Henry Buying into the biased cherry picking coming from the elite punditry's fear of Bernie's nomination is showing your own bias. I would bet that you were never a a fan of his.
1
@David Henry
3 laws in 38 years in Congress. He's lecturing us about a better life? Looks like Bernie has been on easy street for some time. What the heck, as the Castro in America, his easy life will continue. Too bad ours will suffer, immensely.
@Paula Jo Smith I just explained why Sanders shouldn't be the nominee.
Good article, Michelle. Putin would hate a President Sanders.
Just one thing. You said, "Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset. Under Trump, the U.S. has abandoned the pretense of backing democracy and human rights, meaning there are no longer any great powers that even pretend to put morality at the center of foreign affairs."
This is true, except for the last 20 words. Certainly the U.S., Russia and China fall under the definition of great powers, and lesser powers like Saudi Arabia, Libya, Brazil, the Philippines, several South American and African countries also do not back democracy and human rights, the European Union and Canada still do.
The EU and Canada do not have vast military-industrial complexes, but they're still bastions of democracy and human rights. Please do not overlook them.
Russia is eagerly trying to gain a toehold anywhere, principally to regain former Soviet lands, but also, to gain power in other regions, like Syria, or, sow chaos with their election interference, not just in the U.S., but in all elections.
Yet, the EU and Canada still remain firmly democratic and capitalistic, will resist Russian incursion, and if Sanders wins the U.S., perhaps America can lead the world in diplomacy and green economies and lifestyles.
2
What ultimately happened in the Cold War was that liberal democratic governance, as shown in the U.S. and western Europe, proved much better able to support quality of life and functional societies than did communist governance as it was in the USSR and eastern Europe. The competition wasn't primarily military; it was in how the respective models functioned and delivered for their citizens, or didn't, every day.
Perhaps what's most insidious about Putin is that he isn't trying to compete with the West so much as he's trying to turn it into modern Russia: contemptuous of truth, casually cruel, dismissive of rules-based systems, viewing law only as a weapon of power. In Trump--who's held those same views his entire miserable life--he found a perfect patsy.
Sanders isn't my first choice. But I think Ms. Goldberg is entirely correct that his idealism, and the hope he's inspired among young people and the traditionally marginalized, could be an enormously powerful counter-example to Putinism here and around the world.
2
Most people who will vote according to their situation will not care about Putin, or about "socialism" or about what the NYT says, or about history. They care about the here and now, and how much closer they are getting to the ledge.
Sanders is a negotiator and understands that ledge. He is steadfast, yes, but he will try to get something out of a deal if what he ultimately wants is not realized. He thinks big because he has to. If Medicare for all never materializes, I am sure he will try make the ACA much much better. The "family glitch", the middle class unaffordable threshold, the high deductibles, etc. If it needs to be around until this country can come to its senses, then it seriously needs work---A public option though, will not give people anywhere near the benefit that a universal plan could give them. The numbers just will not allow it, but that also needs to be a choice. Joe Lieberman ruined that possibility.
If we are not near the ledge financially, then we have to lose our fear, because falling over it---that's the real fear, and there are more people who have that fear than we realize. I have been for Warren, but I think a Sanders win in the general, along with keeping the House is a real possibility.
3
Putin would hate any of the democratic candidates.
Putin would hate anyone who trusts the U.S. intelligence community, who trusts Congressional oversight and FBI investigation into Russian tampering with our elections, and anyone who he cannot push around.
Putin is doing everything he can to keep Trump in place.
And that is a major reason why America needs to vote the democratic nominee in in November, and vote Trump out.
1
I was appalled when Trump came out of his meeting in Singapore with Kim jong un and made the statement ( we fell in love.) I couldn't believe that it was accepted by this country to let him get away with it. He should have been thrown out of the presidency immediately. I didn't see anything in the media about what an outrage it was. If Obama had said that it would have destroyed his presidency. But the republicans accepted it.
And now they want to reelect him. Makes me nauseous.
1
You miss the point of Russian support of Bernie Sanders. They want Bernie to run against Trump because they know Bernie will lose. This will enable Trump to continue destroying the NATO alliance and weaken Western defenses against Russia.
Can Sanders "pull it off" any better than Klobuchar? Half of all the degrees of liberals in this country are going to have to vote for someone they'd rather not vote for no matter who the nominee is. So who is more likely to get mad and not vote, the left or the right? No one knows. I will vote for anyone that isn't a Trump. It's a promise we should all be making right now. It is time to come together.
2
Trump modus operandi is to always project his own weaknesses and flaws onto his competitors. Therefore, he attacks Sanders as being fueled by Putin while he's been in Russia's pocket as long as he's been yearning for a Trump tower in Moscow. Trump purposefully organized his beauty contest dream in Moscow to ingratiate himself with Russian oligarchs whose money Trump, Inc. has been happy to grab in exchange for overpriced condos with Trump's garish Apprentice TV famed name adorning the facade. Trump appoints an inexperience political hack, Richard Grennell, as his new head of all 7 intelligence agencies. Grennell owned a PR firm which profited off of helping fuel Hungary's authoritarian autocrat, Orban, to power. Trump dreams of transforming the US into a darkly lit Hungarian totalitarian state. Only by smearing his candidates with fear mongering labels like "Socialist" can Trump win re-election. He relies on the gullibility and misinformed voters for winning the presidency again. Those who can't discern the difference between caustic innuendos and real life patterns of deception and treasonous behavior of the amoral political & establishment corporate media shills for information.
1
I liked this opinion until I came the last paragraph; "If enough Americans unite across racial lines to replace Trump with a Jewish socialist, it might mean that our country is figuring out how to transcend the illiberalism of our age. I still find it difficult to believe that Sanders can pull it off. But if he does, Putin won’t be pleased for long."
I truly would love to see Bernie be the Democratic candidate and more than I can describe I'd love to see him beat Donald Trump. But why Ms. Goldberg had to insert the words "Jewish socialist" in an otherwise excellent opinion leaves me baffled and stunned.
I don't care that Bernie is Jewish. It makes no difference. Bernie is a hardworking Senator and though he is Jewish he has never advertised his religious beliefs. He has explained how Judaism effects his life and his out look but being Jewish doesn't make him socialist or Democrat.
If Bernie is elected Putin will cringe. He knows that Bernie has clear insight into Putin's mind. He also knows that Bernie respects our American intelligence agencies and the professionals there. Sanders is winning right now. I hope he continues onward to the White House.
4
https://freebeacon.com/politics/florida-democrats-slam-sanderss-castro-comments-as-unacceptable-insulting/?fbclid=IwAR2nSPle4Ep8OMglzpyuTs4C2KbfNu6tUIq42atKepUrC7hEA5Ixs1jdIhE
These is no reason to believe that Sanders has repented of his youthful passion for tyranny. What are a few tens of thousands of deaths - and the abolition of basic freedoms - in the service of "massive literacy programs"?
Like all tyrants, Sanders hates freedom. He believes freedom is "rigged", that success arises not from talent or drive, but (in effect) from crime. Although he, personally, was so lazy he got kicked out of a kibbutz, he believes in organizing the entire country into such a system, where all will work up to their potential, then see the results "equitably" apportioned, in accordance with "need". That DEFINES credulity.
Government exists for one purpose: to protect individual freedom. The only thing one owes to one's neighbors is to fight to keep them free from others - like Sanders - who would undermine that freedom. Beyond that, you're on your own.
Russia wants us destroyed. Despite Obama's silliness, nothing has changed since the 1980s. In Sanders, they have someone who hates freedom just as much as they do and wants to destroy it in favor of "egalitarianism" and "social justice". They understand that a united, free US is a strong US, that one obsessed with group-think and envy will be weak.
Sanders is exactly what they want to see.
Not really. It's unfair to say everything is bad under Putin... is what Sanders will say.
1
Thank you, after all those negative pieces about Sanders in the NYT I already decided to cancel my subscription. But yours is fair, not driven by neoliberal fears of losing your money and power, as the other ones.
Who can't see that Sanders is the best thing that could happen to the US, has a big problem with reality.
Why is Russia telling that they will support Sanders? Because Trump can't take him on. Sanders will just destroy him in every debate, other than the money- and power-loving Hillary. So Russia tries to picture him as their favorite, which he obviously isn't. Sanders wants to work for the people, something so new in the US, that all rich people get scared.
Goodbye NYT.
1
@Davian
Arrivederci, Davian! Don't forget to write! And don't you dare come to America without stopping by to visit.
1
The best thing we can do is end our reliance on oil and make Putin irrelevant. Elect the person (Warren or Sanders) who will work for the people, deal with climate change, make healthcare available to everyone, and come up with a better way to manage our southern border. I'm sick of all the people who throw up their hands and say it cannot be done. I'm sick of hearing that Putin is some diabolical genius. He's not, he's a bully and a tyrant, just like Trump. We need to stand together and elect a new leader who has a brain and a heart.
1
“It’s certainly true that at times Sanders has been embarrassingly credulous about communist regimes.”
At times? Just last week on 60 minutes Sanders was given a golden opportunity to denounce Castro and his socialist policies that have wrecked Cuba. But no, Bernie could not bring himself to admit what a complete economic failure Cuba has become...a tragedy for the Cuban people.
Good luck winning Florida, Bernie.
@J House
Cuba is doing well, considering our strangling embargo. They actually have an elected government which recently wrote new constitution. Fidel actually managed to create a society capable of democracy from an illiterate 3rd world banana republic. They have free education and better public health than we do. Mich to laud.
@Al M
You have to be kidding. Cuba can trade with every other country in the world but the U. S., including America’s largest trading partners. Go to you tube and watch ‘bald and bankrupt’ and tell me how glorious Cuba is doing. Every person on the street wants out.
You might be right about Putin, but leaders like Ortega would be ecstatic about a Bernie win. If we’re faced w/ a choice of Trump Sanders, it’s basically pick your poison.
Trump will not need any Russian help to win the 2020 election. He has Bernie Sanders to help him.
This article is a cynical attempt to absolve Sanders of his love affair with Socialist regimes including Cuba and Venezuela by misdirecting the conversation toward Russia. Russian meddling is clear as is Sanders apologist positions concerning autocratic Socialist regimes. Trump loves autocrats. Sanders loves Socialism. Call a spade a spade
Sanders has spoken out clearly that he finds Putin to be "an authoritarian thug". The pundits & letter-writers who defer to a politicitized Trump "intelligence" report about what the "Russians want" in order to assess Sander's ability to beat Trump are grasping at straws.
Nevada's Democrats favored Sanders in every demographic except for those over the age of 65: Whites, Blacks, Latinos, college educated, those without college, union and non-union, even "moderate to conservative" voters.
Voters elected "unelectable" Presidents in the past 3 elections: Obama and Trump. Voters will elect an "anti-establishment" candidate they can trust. Sanders isn't perfect (no candidate is), but he fits the bill. Stop freaking out and be curious about why Sanders won the popular vote in the first 3 states. I'll vote and doorbell for the Democratic nominee, even if its a piece of wood.
1
Mr. Sanders, what on earth are you thinking looking up to Chinese and Cuban authoritarianism as supposedly “good” examples?
I think you lost many supporters today.
I suspect the idea that Putin supports Sanders is a Trump/Putin scam. We all know how much Trump loves Putin. Why doesn't that matter to Trump's supporters?
1
LOL.......Bernie is Putin's second favorite politician. And will become the his first if Bernie is somehow elected President.
Putin will play Bernie just like he has Trump, because the two are just opposite sides of the same coin. Their vanity and ego will make them easy work for Putin.
Well worth reading here in Sweden at 04:30 with Vermont Public radio reminding me via Rhapsody In Blue of the America I left 23 years ago.
Simple rhetorical question. Who will be the first Times columnist to understand what everyone in Sweden knows, that there is only one race given its name by a Swede long ago.
Homo Sapiens
Only in America can a person be seen as bi-racial.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US Se
Sanders is not a socialist any more than capitalist Scandinavian countries are socialist. Please, Ms. Goldberg, get your terminology straight.
2
Yes, Senator Sanders' Jewish faith doesn't seem to be an issue with most voters, and that's a good thing. But, he's not the only Jewish candidate. Mayor Bloomberg is, too, and I hope that he will get some ink.
Times are changing. I used to teach at a Jesuit university, which had always been led by a Jesuit priest. When our president died, his talented VP, a Jewish academic, became acting president for two years.
1
Dear friends, Putin is just another “huge threat”, i.e. not. Compared to America’s intervention in the world’s elections, it’s history of assassinations or attempts at same, its Cold War era intervention in Latin American governments, and over a half century of ideological and actual jihad against communism that has destroyed countries like Afghanistan, I’d say P is a paper tiger. Remember when liberals weren’t exactly the same as conservatives?
1
I wonder why Goldberg mentions Sanders' ethnicity, conjecturing whether Americans are willing to replace Trump with a "Jewish socialist." Will that make his election more or less likely?
Exactly! Get real. Of course Putin would hate him.
Bernie is not stupid, malleable, senile, greedy, crooked, blackmailable, or timid. He's smart, tough, sharp, honorable, brave and has no skeletons in his closet. I'm a Warren supporter, because I want a candidate with more finesse, productivity and insight, but I trust Bernie's integrity.
The notion that Putin would want to see Bernie in the White House is preposterous.
Putin is the symbol, made flesh, of the destruction of the former Eastern bloc and all that was positive about it. Grow up, America, nothing is black and white and we were outrageous imperialists throughout the Cold War and the USSR had many undeniable achievements - nobody sleeping on the street, for example, free education, and generous support for the arts. Bernie saw these systems first-hand in the '80s and, just like me, came away saying "Hooray Denmark and Finland!"
Putin is the oligarch of oligarchs and his every action is a disgrace to the genuine heroes of the Russian revolution and World War II.
I'm an Elizabeth Warren supporter, but I respect Bernie for his stout individualism. If he is not a sincere champion of his causes, I would be as stunned as if I saw a film clip of Trump on his knees, praying like a nun.
If America is so credulous to be capable of believing such warmed-over McCarthyist twaddle, the failure of our education systems and loss of Yankee common sense is tragic.
1
The Russia gate scandal was made up by Clinton and the Democrat establishment. They used it for the past three years to divert attention away from the fact their policies or lack there of are so bad the American people would elect the carnival barker Trump.
Go Bernie.
1
Gotta wonder what kind of oppo research that Putin has on Senator Sanders and his flirt with the Soviet Union. We can only wonder at this point.
No where in here did I see any mention of any tangible action the Bernie would take. I suppose that’s because he would just continue to yell like a crazy old man without actually doing anything. Shouldn’t his 4 decades of behavior teach us anything.
I find it odd that Putin always seems to support candidates the establishment elite detest. Trump, Sanders, Gabbard. Oddly enough, they all are anti-war as well, which of course doesn't please our billionaires. Then again, there's the part that there's only one country in the world that has immensely benefited from Trump rule, except his refusal to wage war, and it's not Russia.
Putin would hate Sanders? I’m not crazy about the idea myself. Buttigieg? YES. Sanders or (heaven forbid) Warren? No thank you.
1
Not just Putin. Ultimately, everyone would hate Sanders, as his pie in the sky promises unravel.
“The Russian autocrat may support Sanders, but Sanders doesn’t support him.“
It’s a false meme disinformation troll that Putin wants Bernie to be the candidate. Don’t fall for it.
2
Putin doesn't support Sanders actually. He thinks Bernie will split the democratic party. Putin knows that moderate democrats are haters of the people just as much as republicans. So, by Putin's estimate Sanders will lose because moderate democrats care more about money than their fellow humans. Remember "it's the economy stupid". That gem of a phrase informs you on what moderates think.
We’ll never know because Bernie will lose 44 states.
"A fly buzzed, the clock ticked. The sunny stripes on the carpet grew brighter and brighter. The sun was rising quickly; it must be very high by now. Carl Joseph broke off and glanced at the district captain. The old man sat there. Both hands dangled limply, half hidden in the stiff, round, shiny cuffs on the arms of the chair. His head sank to his chest, and his whiskers rested on his lapels. He's young and foolish, the son thought. He's a dear young fool with white hair. Perhaps I'm his father ... I've grown old; he has merely lived for many years."
--Joseph Roth, "Radetzky March"
When I listen to Sen. Sanders speak, when I see his sincerity and his superficiality, I think of that. Though I'm not sure that's worse than what I think when I see what people like you believe. The dominant progressive political philosophy found at places like The Times I've come to see as quite dangerous. How, exactly, I haven't enough space to depict; but perhaps one day I shall.
No informed person believes in American innocence. But we do believe America isn't as guilty as its adversaries, if not worse -- something it's been accused of going back (at least) to the war that set in motion its global presence. (For those who still believe this, see, for example, James M. Scott's "Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila.")
We still hear from rightists that Putin couldn't POSSIBLY favor Trump, as he's been terribly tough on Russia. That sounds a bit like ... well, you on Sanders.
Sanders, like Trump, are pawns. The difference is Bernie is not an accessory to a deviant wild night in a Moscow hotel, and, he ain’t playing Putin’s game...
Maybe, just maybe, Bernie did learn something of value in his 1988 trip to Russia. I ran a company that did business in Moscow, such as it was, and I can tell you the last time I was in Moscow was in 1988 and the place was a filthy, broken down wreck of crumbling buildings and long lines hidden by than by raw lumber walls....except for the MacDonald's that opened while I was there.....long lines around the corner for local currency sales and no line at all for hard currency sales. My guess, though, is that Bernie is an old Red with the fire in his belly.
Michelle, I read your columns and I think highly of you, but in politics, switching sides as you are doing now, leaves me with a funny feeling about you. Credibility, after all, applies to political journalists, just as it applies to candidates. You were quite scornful and dismissive of Bernie Sanders during your “Elizabeth is my favorite” phase, and I’m having trouble with this conversion now, I must admit. I have occasionally wondered what contractual obligations pertain to your having to crank out so many columns a year, and I wonder today whether you don’t on occasion feel sick of yourself. Even opinionated people suffer self-doubt, and I hope this is true for you. Because the sudden Bernie adoption, including the familial tone with which you suddenly refer to his Jewishness (not something he makes much of), really doesn’t ring true. I like EW too, and mailed in my California primary ballot for her a while ago, but am distressed overall when I see the “socialist” hysteria raise its ugly head anywhere, particularly in the younger generation. Perhaps you’ve been affected by the prevailing ethos at MSNBC, where from the foaming Chris Matthews to the Morning Joe lot, down to the Joy Reids of the network, one and all espouse a feverish and virulently (outdated) anti-communist agenda. Be truthful, and if you convert, kindly clue us in as to why. Was it because you wanted to be on the popular side, suddenly? It’s all quite strange.
heterogeneous, not heterogenous
Michelle,
Your article is proof that democrats know Bernie is a better choice to run say, Russia or Cuba, which he loves, or some other foolish "socialist" lie of a country. You are trying to "prove" that Russia doesn't love Bernie because the narrative from the democrats is that Russia is our problem and why they lost the election. Not that they got beat soundly by a better candidate. You will never admit that. Understand that Trump has nominated 2 Supremes and 44 Circuit Court Judges and 112 District Court Judges, 158 total. These are judges that will rule against Liberal ignorances and restore the order of law. Explain how all is lost and Trump will double these numbers in his second term, with at least 1 more to the Supremes. You are toast! Thankfully!
What a pointless fantasy. The basic point of these "intelligence" stories is that they are based on the premise that the Russians are malevolent and want to demoralize the US voters. The problem is their is no proof of this. But these "experts" just know its there. The NYTs has been tying the political world in the US in knots with this premise. Now they want to throw Sanders in the mix. This all knowing allusion is soon going the way of other extinct pointless ideas. Schiff has made a living promoting the idea that only thing keeping the Russians out of the US is fomenting a proxy war in Ukraine. Schumer never tires of calling for sanctions against the Russians. Sanders is leaving this world view behind. Sanders has his campaign focused on one thing organizing and mobilizing to defeat Trump. All these efforts from the Mueller investigation to the failed Senate trial of Trump show the failure of the NYTs model for defeating Trump. This new "intelligence" brouhaha is irrelevant to what will actually decide the election in 2020.
Putin supports Sanders because it insures a Trump Victory!
It's not that the Russians are very smart, it's that we are very dumb. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to weaponize Facebook with false advertising. All the hackers were identified and indicted by Mueller. It doesn't take an astrophysicist to imagine hackers relocating to Africa or America to hide the origin of their nefarious activities. The NSA could shut Russian electioneering down tomorrow and would under a Sanders presidency. A vote for Bernie is a vote for the people. A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin.
Russia is a fascist country and is trying to spread fascism by getting people in western democracies to vote for candidates with authoritarian views. Putin bases fascism in Russia on the views of Russian fascist writers such as Alexander Dugin. I don't think we will ever learn the details about the connections between Trump and the Russians but Trump is certainly their man. Now that they helped get Trump elected president they will do whatever they can get away with to keep him there. Any Democrat winning the presidential election would be a severe blow to Russia. They can certainly get into the minds of the Fox News crowd with fake news to drive up the vote for Trump but they also will try to reduce the turnout for the Democratic candidate which will require somewhat more clever methods.
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CORRECTION: "The Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin may support Sanders, but only because he thinks he will loose to fellow tyrant Donald Trump." I am sure that was the headline that Michelle Goldberg intended to write.
A populist is a populist, no matter what flag they're waving.
A hammer doesn't have to whack you across the face to be effective.
Can we stop giving credibility to nonsense- that Vladimir Putin is so powerful that he can pick both Presidential candidates by chickenfeed Facebook ads in a race where billions are spent on either side.
Thank you for writing the first pro Bernie piece I have seen in the Times.
Democracies have their own authoritarian elements, we don't need Putin. So I'm looking right now at at a medal memorializing Mandel, the French Jewish resistance leader (Churchill's pick for head of state over DeGaulle). Mandel was murdered by French Nazis (called the Militia, now a dirty word in France) not Germans. Leon Blum was a leftist elected to head the French govt before WWII. The cry of the right was "Better Hitler than Blum", and they got what they wanted. After the capitulation, Blum was prosecuted for opposing the German advance in 1939 in a French court, but acquitted- that was a bit much even for most collaborators- and he escaped death only when soldiers refused to carry out Hitler's order. Don't underestimate opposition to Sanders on both ideological and religious grounds in our fair country. I think he has a snowball's chance of being elected, and should that happen, a certainty that the government would be deadlocked. Get somebody else to defeat Trump, please.
Bernie just lost Florida with his despicable praise of Fidel Castro. No doubt, more old videos of sound bites of Bernie praising socialist dictators will surface in the general election. Face it, Bernie is Putin—he simply lacks the power to enforce his views on the American people—yet.
Remember Watergate? It wasn't a burglary, it was a political coup. Nixon wanted to run against McGovern.
Putin wants a vulnerable opponent for twerp.
Here we go again, Michelle. Bernie is a Democratic Socialist, not a socialist, as you stated at the end of your otherwise well-written piece. Please be honest and not use misleading terms.
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Electing Sanders is not going to instill any new confidence in America around the world. It would be just another instance of the ignorant American voter zig-zagging from one side to the other. Only depending on who at that moment was most adept at selling himself to an electorate that is clueless about almost everything and elects people for all the wrong reasons.
Americans elected Bush and then re-elected him after he was already a proven war criminal. Then they zig-zagged over to elect a smart and reasonable man, Obama. Only to swerve again and pick Trump. Next they may elect Sanders. And in four or eight years maybe it'll be a wrestler or a talkshow host. Or a donkey. Nobody knows.
Reasonable authoritarians like Putin, who actually respects treaties and does not change his policy 180 degrees every few years, are in fact much more dependable and preferable from an international standpoint.
1
Maybe after his reelection Putin will be more flexible like he and Obama were?
Putin would prefer Trump as president but Sanders as president would also not be a disaster for him either. This is because both Trump and Sanders want much less American involvement in the affairs of other countries. They are both “America First” politicians, they just voice it in slightly different ways.
And American voters by and large have the same outlook as both of these men. This is one of the primary reasons that one of them will probably be president.
1
Bernie will lose to trump. so Russian triangulation leads to support for Bernie as democratic candidate. easy calculation to see.
1
Now Goldberg is becoming naive! And I thought she could see through a lot of issues clearly. All opinions about Mr Sanders assume that he is a superman who can singlehanded change all problems in this country. Where's Congress ? Or are we becoming accustomed to the idea that a man or a woman can become so powerful in this country that he/she can shape its destiny by him or herself? I am more inclined to assess the importance of changing the configuration of the Senate and electing a sober minded president who could forge policies with the backing of Congress--unlike the 400 bills now resting in the Senate and waiting for action. I have read that Sanders is backed by all latinos--which is not necessarily true--and I suspect that it is because there's something of that firebrand populism that one sees in Latin America and captivates people's "imagination." Most result in failures. Is that the path we want to follow here? This is NOT Sweden or Venezuela. We have an electoral college and it will surely deliver the country to Trump again if we choose to invest on a populist dreamer without the facts to explain how he will change this country. Sorry Michelle, you are following the wrong smell.
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yeah, well I heard that anyone who wants to cut fossil fuel energy production in the US would raise global prices from current historic lows, and thus boost Russia's economy that completely depends on it.
So there is that.
3
The best way to see Trump reelected is to support the "socialist" Sanders.
Most Americans still see autocratic Russia as somewhat "socialist".
In backing Sanders Putin confirms that Sanders is a true "socialist".
Have you ever seen American voters leaning toward "socialism", also called "the end of private property", in this country ?
The notion that Sanders doesn't like Putin, or that Putin is fond of nationalism and hates socialists has nothing to do with Putin's game.
He wants to see Trump reelected simply because this gives him more free room in the Middle East, against Europe, in Ukraine and other parts of the world as Trump's presidency makes United States weaker in the end.
That's all there is to it.
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@vincent7520 - - - Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, this American President has completely reversed Pres. Obama's fear of Putin.
While Obama surrendered on East European air defense systems because they never talked about that at Columbia U., Trump has challenged Russia everywhere, with the attendant deaths of hundreds of Russian soldiers foolishly sent to the Middle East to project Putin's ego.
Your grandchildren will laugh as they recall all the progressive geniuses buying this tripe that Hillary spewed after she got beat, fair and square.
You know, Hillary? The originator of the Obama-born-in-Kenya story?
@vincent7520
The United States IS a socialist country. You are confusing Communism with Socialism. Why is the US so socialist already? The many many many of its population living off government subsidies. Have a natural disaster? No prob Bob, the country rebuilds your house, better then the old one. Live on a beach, on a fault line, in a flood zone? No prob Bob, the US will rebuild your house over and over and over again. There is health insurance, to many, I have never gone without it in 60 years! All you have to have is a real job. Why does anyone not have a real job? Because they wasted their time on a BA in basket weaving, instead of an apprenticeship as an electrician. Millions live off social security disability. Do not confuse this with social security!!!! Social security is earned with a lifetime of contributions. Social Security Disability is also known as th red neck lottery, win it and it doesn't matter of you are 20 years old, as long as you convinced a doctor that you're unfit for work, and the socialist state pays you forever. Oh, and if you are a veteran, the socialist state pays your medical care forever, and pensions, and education, and membership in an exclusive brotherhood that you gives you preferential job hiring in perpetuity. What did I miss? The USA is already a socialist country, just not a communist one where the capital is in the hands of the state proletariat.
I do not agree with Ms. Goldberg. To the contrary, Putin would welcome President Sanders, because if Sanders is elected, the politics of Asian countries will move to the leftist direction. That will help Putin expand Russian power to Asian countries.
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If it seems, on the face of it, that Putin would not like Sanders as president (just as Ms Goldberg says) - and Putin is no one's fool - it is more likely that he supports Sanders for other reasons.
It seems to be fairly widely agreed that in a head to head with Trump, Sanders would lose. If that is true, the best reason for supporting Sanders would be to ensure Trump's reelection. And we can be reasonably assured that Putin thinks that a Trump win would serve his purposes best.
In other words, this is about realpolitik, not about democracy. The best outcome for Putin would be the defeat of the Democratic candidate and the reelection of Trump. If support for Sanders could make that more likely, Putin would do well to support Sanders. This is not, however, about Sanders, but about Trump.
@Eric MacDonald
He supports Sanders because Sanders does not preach American exceptionalism. Sanders preaches learning from the rest of humanity. It's a huge step forward for an American.
@LHP I'm sorry, that sounds like a stretch to me. Putin's support does not seem to me to be likely to be based on something so recondite as support or otherwise for American exceptionalism. Even if true, it is not evident what Putin stands to gain. Putin wants cash value. So far Trump has delivered. It's not clear what "Sanders does not preach American exceptionalism" promises to deliver.
Putin will never have to deal with President Bernie Sanders because Bernie Sanders will lose to Trump. Putin’s bromance with Trump will continue because Putin owns Trump and therefore runs Trump’s foreign policy.
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I would like to add the fact that Russia, being a Petro-state, absolutely needs a climate denier in the White House for its economic survival.
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Putin is playing all of America like a fiddle and nobody really seems to care. Sanders is merely the latest victim du jour and the easiest mark so far. The election is already over. The Mueller Report, House impeachment and media ginned up false expectations have been created for guaranteed cliffhangers where our democracy eventually walks right over the cliff while welcoming autocracy.
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This all sounds quite naive I must say. For Putin, it does not really matter who is President. Any confusion, diversion, division is good. So a divided Democratic Party is good, a divided USA is good. Putin might prefer Trump slightly over Sanders, but the worst would be a moderate, behind whom a large swath around the median voter can get behind ...
3
Such a lucky coincident that the important information of Putin's love for Bernie by the ever honest and reliable intelligence apparatus was released the very day before the Nevada caucus.
1
Putin would favor Trump over Sanders but it seems to me it’s a win win for him while a Trump Sanders contest seems to me to be the worst two options for the USA
1
Dems won't beat Trump unless they campaign on beating Trump. Sanders is campaigning on turning America into Venezuela.
Regardless of what the kids want, Putin's betting Sanders will be easy fodder for Trump's duplicity. I can't say I disagree.
It's not the right time to go so far off course. If Democrats don't win in Nov, it's game over.
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Michelle, I’ve been a little afraid to vote for Bernie because of the electability question. But you just put into words so many of my feelings for Bernie. You just helped me make up my mind: I’m in 100% for Bernie. As a Democratic socialist myself, I’m also a pragmatist, so the idea of Trump defeating Bernie scares me to death. But, as a septuagenarian, this may be my last chance to vote my heart. I’m in for Bernie 100% and encourage the rest of this country to join me. By the way, something I wish Bernie could explain (but can’t in sound bites) is what the evil Castro replaced. Yes, he was horrible, but what was his predecessor, Trumpian horror Batista? Some of us remember. Just as many remember the eventually evil Iranian revolution replaced an evil Trumpian Shah. Unfortunately, all the things Bernie might understand just aren’t communicable in sound bites; and history is much more complicated than people understand. I am so glad younger people are looking past all the nastiness being pumped out by the right about Bernie.
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@Maisie
Except that Sanders is not a democratic socialist. The word democratic he used to gain entry to the stage of the democratic primary, without being a registered Democrat himself. Right there, you should have a sense of his moral compass. Sanders wants to nationalize the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, disown them, run them himself. That my dear is communism, fascist communism itself, just like Venezuela disowned the oil industry, and has suffered the consequences since. No doubt when that is in trouble, Sanders will nationalize the health provider industries too, doctors on government payroll, hospitals government owned. Sanders thinks the VA System is so much more preferable to what we have. Sanders will trash the healthcare we have, just like Venezuela trashed its oil industry and its own country.
"Expect the unexpected",
would be my best advice.
If Sanders gets elected,
it won't be paradise.
A socialist as President?
Things would not be the same.
The current White House resident
would have to take the blame...
Either the Russian intelligence operation is gaming the US, or they are very successful.
Russia is pleased with Trump as president. Biden was a threat and Biden has gone down in smoke. Sanders is considered the most vulnerable to Trump and now there is talk that Bernie is unstoppable.
To the untrained eye—which it seems describes the next intelligence chief—it looks like Russia is winning,
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I don't think Bernie has a winnable agenda. Medicare for all won't work. You can't sell socialism in the most successful capitalist society on the planet. It is absurd. Russia supporting Bernie is a ploy to help get Trump four more years.
Wait - what:
"But in a race with Trump, he would represent American exceptionalism. 'As the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth, we have got to help lead the struggle to defend and expand a rules-based international order in which law, not might, makes right,' he said in 2017.
Putin, of course, is bent on subverting the rules-based international order."
OH MAN!
When presented with the distructive possibilities for the US that Trump represents, not doing everything to ensure his success in november would be a grave dereliction by Putin. In boxing terminology, if America leads with it's jaw then we cannot complain if our main opponent hits where it hurts most.
Let us not forget that Sanders honeymooned in the Soviet Union and seems to have an affinity for authoritarian socialist regimes like Cuba and Venezuela.
I think he would get along quite well with Putin. At least Putin would like having Sanders as president.
Yes, Putin might hate “PRESIDENT Bernie Sanders” and that could well be the reason he wants him to be the Democratic candidate facing President Donald Trump in November.
In probing the current political atmosphere, many analysts think that Trump would crush a “democratic socialist” opponent like Senator Sanders.
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"Under Trump, the U.S. has abandoned the pretense of meaning there are no longer any great powers that even pretend to put morality at the center of foreign affairs."
Chilling.
And the idea that certain Trump supporters are proud to wear "I'd Rather be Russian than a Democrat" T-shirts says it all.
I just can't imagine what the GOP's previous hero, the "Great Communicator" Ronald Reagan would say about this?
Is this where we stand today?
Do these patriotic "America First", U.S.A. U.S.A. chanting Trump supporters have any idea what they're proposing?
Of course the GOP will accuse Sanders of being a Communist sympathizer.
Yet Trumps actions speak louder than any words!
Trump is destroying the "The American Way."
Which until now I always assumed meant backing democracy and human rights against authortarianism. It's what defines us as a nation. And the leader of the "Free World."
Are Democrats the only Americans that fundamentally understand this?
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To pretend to know who is best positioned to win is a fool's game, particularly when the tectonic plates of American politics are grinding away at each other.
That said, Michelle Goldberg has it right even when she mistakenly thinks Russia hasn't been communist for a long time. It's still communist, in a Leninist way. Vladimir Putin doubtless sees himself as the heir of Peter the Great but the institution which nurtured Putin's talents, the KGB is the lineal descendent of Lenin's secret police, made famous in Stalin's day as masters of the Gulag.
More important, even, is Putin's nomenklatura, the "new class" elites, foremost among them, the oligarchs, which function much as they did in the bad old days.
Because Putin is the heir of communism, he is unlikely to want Bernie as President. Lenin always saw the democratic left, aka democratic socialists as greater enemies than conservatives, because the democratic left competed for the suppor of the working class.
It's more than mischief making. If, as reported, part of the GRU's work involves attacking, disguised as Bernie Bros, his Democratic opponents, then the aim is to undermine Bernie's primary candidacy, rather than support him as more easy for Trump to defeat.
In any event, Bernie must stop defending every last word he ever said (e.g., his recent remarks about Cuba) and focus on Trump's corruption, lawlessness and incompetence.
I don't know where to begin here. So many fallacies, so little time. First off, besides writing that Sanders is anti-Putin a dozen times, I am still missing the reasoning why. And then, please add an explanation as to why an adversarial relationship with anyone would be of benefit, to anyone? Is there anyone left on this side of the Atlantic who seriously thinks that the world's derelict talking tough will bring respect?
Putin wants Trump because Trump is easily manipulated and because Trump wants what Putin has - wealth and power. -Any- Democrat would be far smarter than Trump and and would do a far better job of countering an increasingly autocratic and corrupt Russia. Russian support for Sanders is simply an attempt exploit differences among Americans and to divide them further.
Putin certainly doesn't want Sanders to become President (I do!). Sanders, both a a socialist and a democrat, would oppose Putin, who epitomizes Russian corruption and autocracy.
Sanders would help put both the US and the world on a path to using fewer fossil fuels, thereby decreasing the value of Russia's primary export.
Sanders would re-emphasize human rights as part of US foreign policy. From Charter 77 in the 1980's to the US Magnitsky Act now, powerful Russians have always hated human rights policies.
Russia is a declining (and thus dangerous) power. It has no ideological appeal. It lacks the wealth to compete with neighboring China in their common back yard.
The USSR failed economically and politically, a victim of WW2, a ruinous arms race, and its own contradictions.
Its successor, modern Russia, has reverted to historically typical Russian rule - autocracy and corruption, with today's oligarchs in much the same position as the boyars of centuries past - supporting the Tsar above and oppressing the serfs below. For all of Sanders' rhetoric, Russia needs a revolution far more than the US.
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Putin would hate a Sanders presidency for the same reasons he was terrified of a Clinton presidency - a competent, compassionate experienced person in the White House.
But I wish Bernie would recognize Moscow’s aid for his nomination drive as what it is - a guarantee of a Trump re-election, and possibly further collapse of the US.
Collapse - as in a radically two-class economy, soaring bigotry and an economic collapse caused by Trump’s soaring debt and deficit - not through overspending except on the military, but by refusing to tax those capable of paying.
The deficit further devalues the dollar. Anyone shopping for food knows prices on the basics are soaring.
The CDC have been cut back to the point that US researchers STILL don’t know how the latest breakout virus is transmitted (by nasal/oral sprays, or skin secretion; by air, surface contamination, food contamination, touch - the basic obvious stuff).
It took a couple of weeks to solve the “Legionnaire’s Virus” transmission route and that was new - contaminated water droplets released by cooling systems).
We don’t have a national medical science program anymore.
But Sanders has painted himself as a “socialist”, though as Krugman has pointed out, he isn’t anything of the kind.
And the Cold War-the one that began in “the Gilded Age” has made that an epithet far more toxic than “the N word”.
I worked my heart out for George McGovern in ‘72.
And I know what’s coming.
The problem? It won’t have the ending that tale did in ‘76.
Ms. Goldberg, thank you for your thoughtful, insightful analysis of why Putin would lose significantly if Sanders were president. It seems that all of this "Putin supports Sanders" talk is a false flag undertaking by the Russian to undermine Sanders in the minds of American voters, thus helping his true favored candidate, Trump.
To suggest a leftist like Bernie will assert American power is absurd on the face of it. Part of that core belief is that America is the problem.
Bernie Sanders is head-and-shoulders above every other candidate in this race. That he actually wants to serve the *people* seems to be why the DNC is determined to tear him down.
I don't fear a Sanders presidency. What I fear is a Sanders candidacy.
Somehow his supporters don't believe that the Republican spin and dirt making machine would not relentlessly attack Sanders in the same way it attacked Clinton after she won the primaries.
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@Marie
Another commenter astutely observed a few days ago that a Sander's candidacy would not be referendum of Trump VS Sanders, but Capitalism VS Socialism in the US. Or Trump VS Socialism.
"Unlike Trump, Sanders would not be a stooge for Russia." I am distressed and frankly appalled that so many pundits are downplaying this. The Russians are meddling to help Sanders win the nomination. We should be concerned. This is bad. What's more, we should be able to discuss this matter and how thoroughly bad it is without a Sanders apologist immediately jumping in and saying, "Yeah, but..."
I don't care if Sanders says he hates Putin or what he's going to do if he wins the election. I don't care if Putin underestimates Sanders's strength as a candidate. The Russian are meddling. Also, to even know that information is to know what is in the mind of each of the actors—impossible. In the meantime, what actions is Sanders taking to re-establish trust? If this happened to Warren, Sanders's supporters would be livid. They would make demands. They would brigade. I'm tired of being told not to worry about it by the Sanders campaign.
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If I were Putin, I would throw all my support behind Bernie. After all, he wants to gut our military budget. Trump, by contrast, is big on military spending.
Russia is our closest military competitor. And no one will close the gap more than Bernie. It’s a no brainer. Bernie will make Russia a more formidable military power. And nothing is more important to Putin. It’s plain old common sense. Ms. Goldberg has got it backward.
First, let's acknowledge any poll that shows Sanders (or anyone else at this point in the race) beating Trump in November is totally worthless. We all know that these numbers will flip flop a half dozen times between now & election day. To even cite them is absurd. Second Goldberg fails to answer the most fundamental question: How does it serve Putin's interest to have Sanders as POTUS? Sanders promises to reduce military spending, be less willing to use military force and ban fracking. The last being the most important. The value of Russia's oil & gas assets would skyrocket making them much more dangerous. They will also have a free hand in causing turmoil throughout the world. If this is indeed Russia's intention it's a brilliant diabolical move. It's heads they win, tails they win. If Sanders loses that's also good for them. They know he will split the party. Moderate suburban voters won't vote for Democratic Socialism. His nomination would also compel independent swing voters to hold their nose & vote for Trump again. Result: civil war in the Democratic party, Trump wins. If Sanders loses the nomination outright to say Klobuchar or Bloomberg the Bernie Bros will claim Russian interference & stay home. Result: Trump wins. Frankly, at this point, the Russians don't have to lift a finger for this plan to work. They've already injected a huge dose of doubt into the election. The net effect: the country will be further polarized with Congress in perpetual gridlock mode.
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Whoa! Michelle Goldberg hits the nail on the head once again. Thanks so much for the clarity amongst the confusion which is spread by so many pundits!
Like every other aspect of the shamboiic 2020 presidential election, Putin is rumoured to back Sanders. If that is so, improbably, it's really a ringing endorsement for Trump's own initiative to remain on the throne--as opposed to merely in the White House--as President-for-Life. Like someone notorious in South America. As in, despot. Putin has already installed his asset in 2016 and laughs at this absurd wasteful electoral carnival we put on.
1
Oh, come on, Putin knows this already as so most of us. Putin supports Sanders merely because he would lose to Trump. You don't need an entire column to figure that out.
2
How did this country ever get into such a position, arguing and assessing who is getting helped by Putin, that Russian thug (to be distinguished from the warm and kind Russian people). Russia's efforts to interfere (a polite word) goes back to 2014, when they set up the Internet Research Agency (dirty trick squad) to work with a vengeance. Despite the evidence, it's mystifying that Trump's devoted base goes blind when it comes to Putin's thuggery on behalf of their golden boy. WHY does Putin favors Trump? This should knock Trump right out of the race. People should be outraged. Now because Sanders' campaign is being attacked by Russian trolls will the blind base finally see? No, instead the Democratic establishment will use this as another reason to try to throw Sanders under the bus. It is best that our government fight this, and expose it to the American people as often as they can, so people know what's going on and how to be on guard about it. I hope people don't lump Sanders or any other candidate with Trump, who welcomed Putin's support. Read Mueller's report section on Russian interference. Trump knew that Putin was violating our election laws and helping him -- Trump welcomed it. Though he didn't ask for the help, he did not repudiate it either. Any American who is a true patriot would excoriate Putin and his thugs. Sanders will have nothing to do with Putin and Co., and calls them out on it. Big difference.
Yes, Putin would hate Mr. Sanders as would most of the America and the rest of the world when his "economic plans" (taxes, taxes and more taxes), tanks the stock market (and pension funds) and housing market and plunges our economy and others into a steep recession. If you want to see "anger", just look at people after they have been laid off.
Remember, Trump has even started his attacks on Bernie. What we've seen so far is nothing. When it comes, Bernie will be destroyed and Trump wins.
Sorry, you are ignoring this.
should be "not even has started"
Bravo! Best opinion piece of yours that I've read in the Times. It really hits hits the nail on the head with perfect precision.
1
Thanks for a calm discussion of Sanders' beliefs and of his prospects in the campaign.
Let me object, however, to one remark of yours. You write:
"...there’s a reason the state-run Russian propaganda network RT hosted the American Green Party’s 2016 presidential debate."
In the incandescence of the last three years, this is a very provocative statement. Whatever your intent it will be taken to mean that the Greens were at best Russian pawns, guilty of the Un-American sin of divisiveness.
I am one of those who have worked for decades for a break by the Left from the Democratic party.
Until 2000, we were written off as fools. With Gore's narrow loss, we became wreckers of the unity of the Left.
Since 2016, we are agents of divisiveness, doing the work of the enemy. The words traitor and treason aren't far off.
Those who speak for liberal democracy, like you, should be defending the political rights of those who see the way forward as building an independent movement. You don't have to agree. Almost nobody does in this time.
But, one has a right to be divisive. Indeed it's a great American value. The abolitionists were divisive. The suffragettes were divisive. It was divisive people who stood up to the smug racism of the fifties. It was divisive people who forced the withdrawal from Vietnam.
I plan to vote proudly in November for my dog Wolfie, and urge others to do the same.
I should appreciate your accepting that while I might be a fool, I'm no traitor.
Putin is only backing Sanders, because he knows that Trump can beat Sanders who will be castigated as a Socialist/Marxist/Communist. Can the moderate Democrats get their act together?
It is equally likely that Mexico will pay for the border wall as it is that Medicare For All will be enacted during Sanders’ lifetime.
Then why did he vote against the Magnitsky Act? And sanctions against Russia three times? And deferred once? And pretended Russia was NEVER helping him? And then blamed it on Clinton’s campaign? Sorry, I’m not convinced.
There couldn’t be a better gift to Trump than the GOP having Bernie the socialistic-communist running against Trump. Trump may win re-election in a landslide. the only one’s who will be voting for Bernie will be leftist dreamers and out of touch flower children. Trump 2020.
1
Putin's goal is to destabilize liberal democracies by aggravating internal divisions and destroying faith in its institutions by proving that its leadership is incompetent. Sanders would be almost as effective at that as Trump himself whether or not his supporters have the wit to see it.
Putin would win either way.
Putin would hate any democrat! That's the truth - nothing special about Bernie.
But, Putin is supporting Bernie because he knows the American electorate and knows Bernie can't beat Trump. That is the bottom line. He, with the help of Trump and his friends, stole the election in 2016 and he is geared up to help Trump win re-election
1
"Unlike Trump, Sanders would not be a stooge for Russia." And in what way exactly is Trump a stooge for Russia? Because he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem? Because he is visiting Modi? Because he has put pressure on Iran which is a close friend of Russia?
Why have Democrats got addicted to confusing their imagination and facts? There is absolutely no evidence that Trump is a stooge for Russia except in the imagination of the Democrats which is certainly quite active.
Personally I think we need a better relationship with Russia. Because of Democratic attacks on him, Trump cannot bring about that better relationship. Sanders is more likely to succeed in that domain.
1
Putin would love President Sanders and VP Warren! Our economy would be set on a rapid race to the bottom akin to Cuba’s.
I prefer Elizabeth Warren to Bernie. I think that Bernie had better start undoing the damage he did with the Florida Cuban-American population with his "Castro may have lined opponents up against a wall and shot them, but, hey, reading" comment. I think it would be wonderful if Bernie would for once unambiguously concede that either he or one of his supporters were in the wrong about anything.
And, I think that Bernie would beat Trump like a drum in the general elections. If nothing else, he has an infectious passion and energy that will appeal to many working and middle class people. Goldberg is right. His pure and simple belief in the fundamental goodness of the people is kryptonite to cynical, oppressive autocrats like Putin. And for all of his faults, he is an infinitely better man than the current occupant of the White House.
If he wins the Democratic nomination, though he not be my first choice, I'm gonna do everything I can to push, pull, and kick him over the finish line in first place. I highly recommend that the rest of the sane electorate prepare to do the same. The alternative is utterly unacceptable.
1
Now we are talking about Putin would hate President Saunders? When are we going to talk about the majority of The Democratic Party that does not like Bernie. Florida Dems say if Bernie runs Trump wins Florida.So I could care less who Putin hates or loves. Watching Saunders I have to wonder why no one is holding his feet to the fire about paying for his revolution?
This column is completely misguided. Putin wants Sanders as the nominee for the same reason the Republicans want Sanders as the nominee. (And it's the same reason why in 2016, Trump constantly attacked Clinton and not Sanders).
Sanders inspires his base, but he has many skeletons in his closet that have never been used against him in a national election and are probably unknown to his fans -- that certainly won't be true when Trump is done with him. Also, Sanders has taken many positions that will make it unlikely for him to win the Electoral College (such as his absolute opposition to fracking, which will make winning Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, very doubtful).
So in general, both Trump and the Russians want Sanders because he's the weakest candidate and will ensure Trump's re-election.
E pluribus unum. Now, which candidate upholds this, the nation's motto, with every breath. Hint - it ain't the prez.
I appreciate Michelle's using the term "Jewish socialist" to describe Bernie. That's a whole new color in today's palette of political vanguards. I think that if Bernie becomes president, it will be because beneath all the potentially determinative factors the pundits can cite or conjure out of whole cloth, people just want something really different.
What Putin wants most is for the US to cut its military budget. And Bernie will deliver exactly that. So Bernie is indeed Putin’s top choice for President. Trump wants to increase the military budget. He’s at the bottom of the barrel for Putin.
If elected president, Sanders's affinity with Russians would (rightly) be their people, not their leaders.
W.'s affinity with Russia, particularly as it concerned his war on terror, was with only one person: Vladimir Putin.
Where is the journalism. Why are we not seeing the fake russian ads or text posts the Russians are using to support Sanders or last week Trump. There is no evidence being presented. No warchout for this ad, meme or argument. So far all we a have is a media presenting as fact that Russia is doing this.
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I'm sure the despots of the world will be intimidated by the appeasement delegations sent by Sanders to restore peace, love and happiness.
Putin WANTS it to be known that he's supposedly "helping" Bernie's campaign.
Putin isn't trying to help Sanders become the nominee so that he will then easily lose to Trump.
Instead, Putin wants to taint Bernie's candidacy by almost publicly "helping" him, which would reinforce the notion, however absurd, that Russia actually wants Bernie — "a fellow Communist" — to win. What better way to make Sanders look really far, far left than by getting Putin's aid?
In reality, Putin is afraid of Sanders. He knows Bernie has the passion and energy to stand up to Trump. Putin knows Bernie will battle Trump in the debates. Putin knows Bernie, unlike Trump, can't be flattered and bought.
Bernie’s revolution is a pipe dream. The insurers, drug, finance, etc companies he thinks will pay the bill for the Great Bernie Giveaway — welfare, health care, education and the end of student debt — aren’t going to sit there and be billed billions. In fact, they have a duty to their shareholders to avoid that outcome, and they will, with the help of the best accountants and law firms money can buy. But the point is, whether they stay or go, our economy gets weakened, and that, Putin would love. But realistically, I don’t believe Bernie can beat Trump. The average person is not effected by the corruption of the Trump administration nor the damage done to our democracy. Compared to a sharp socialist step to the left, Trump will look like the safer choice. Putin knows that Trump has the best chance against Bernie.
2
Michelle Goldberg's analysis is very balanced. Bernie has many positive qualities, but his biggest Achilles heel is his seeming tolerance of the brutality of authoritarian socialism abroad. His comments about Cuba are simply unacceptable, and rather shocking. He is his own worst enemy when he fails to distinguish democratic socialism from autocratic socialism, and says there is something positive about Castro's effect on Cuba. He falls into the same hole of many American socialists by clinging to the ideals of socialism and ignoring the ugly aftermath that occurs when a visionary political system, whether fascist or socialist, is forced on a resistant population. Bernie made virtually identical comments about China during an interview with Chris Hayes of MSNBC, about how communism had produced some beneficial social progress. Given that recent news has emerged of Uygur Muslims being grossly mistreated in Prison (re-education) camps, just as Tibetans and Chinese have been for decades, it is hard to stomach these comments. A few years ago, I read a book by a Tibetan woman named Ama Adhe about her harrowing experiences in Chinese prison camps. When I had the honor of meeting her in person, I broke into to a flood of uncontrolled tears over the suffering she endured and witnessed. I have no fear that Bernie would ever overstep the rules of our democratic process, but he needs to stand up and clearly condemn the brutality of totalitarian socialism.
1
@Mary Pernal, I haven't seen Sanders' exact words about Cuba, but I'm convinced of one thing that's positive there: the universal healthcare system. That nation may be poor, but everyone can at least get care. That's been the theme of numerous articles and documentaries for the past couple of decades.
You bring up China: those regimes have produced some positive economic results too; China accounts for 1/3 of world growth now. That, however, in no way excuses the horrible human rights record of its authoritarian government.
Do you understand that it is possible to hold two different thoughts in your mind at the same time?
Michelle Goldberg makes some great points. However, there really is no need for Russia to interfere in our politics. Many of our own home grown pundits are doing a great job generating Sanders-fear! When a serious candidate shows up that really addresses inequality in America the alarms go off. What so many of them want to ignore is that Bernie has huge support, especially among the young and if he wins the nomination, than he is representing the will of the people who want the playing field leveled.
So many well known opinion writers use fear tactics to get someone to read their articles and in so doing undermine the very process they say they support. How about putting some of those fears aside for a moment and let the process work.
"In this project, Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset."
Thank you for raising this point so clearly. We have to ask - is the purge of the whole US intelligence department driven by the fact that they see that trump is in fact a russian asset, so compromised that he is willing to weaken or destroy the USA in order to keep putin from revealing secrets?
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The greatest threat that Sanders represents to Putin and Trump is his instinct to set the world on a green energy course. The powers of oil and gas extraction and marketing are formidable. In their quest to rid the world of impediments to maintaining its fix on fossil energy, Putin and Trump and their fossil allies are seemingly unstoppable. Their mutual goal is to arrest the evolution of forces uniting collectively toward an alternate vision. Putin and Trump are fossil authoritarians. And they stand, imperially strong and united, representing an incredible power over all of our lives, weakened and fragmented by our dependencies on fossil. They stand united against our freedom to choose an alternate path toward a sustainable future.
2
@sentinel, you nailed it. Russia will go down like ten tons of bricks in the ocean as the U.S. and the world complete the transition to renewable energy. Bernie would help speed up the transition that is already well underway. Forward-thinking utilities are winding down coal power in their portfolios, many on a course for zero within five years or less. Russia and its big oil & gas, fossil fuel oligarchs are toast.
1
If Putin really is pulling for Sanders, it is definitely not out of a desire to have him in the oval office. I can't think of a single thing Sanders has said or done that would benefit Putin. He doesn't compliment or flatter him; he doesn't argue that the US is no better than Russia; he doesn't advocate trampling on human rights; he doesn't promote autocratic behavior to boost his own power; he doesn't shrug off corruption, and he ardently supports transparency in government. All of these are anathema to Putin, and to dictators everywhere. Putin may think Donald would beat Sanders, but he may well be wrong about that. What is obvious is Donald's track record of kissing up to--and emulating--Putin. That's not rumor or innuendo. It's right out there in the light of day. And the lion's share of the GOP is unwilling to pull the fire alarm.
3
Perhaps Republican and Democratic extremists like Trump and Sanders are prevailing because Americans have lost faith in the ability of either Party to rationally debate and compromise over the issues. Politics in America is clearly now a zero-sum game, with arch-enemies being the other Party and not Russia and China who seek to destroy our democratic principles. We have forgotten that we are all on the same team - Team America.
As I see it, given this new reality, appraising the differences in the two Parties requires a new calculus: what are the primary motives energizing these two extremist ideologies? For the Democrats, it is returning America to its founding principles of government for the people, by the people. For the Republicans, it’s is the attainment of permanent One Party Rule, and a rejection of the founding principle of E Pluribus Unum.
This is why, despite my disagreement with many of the positions of Mr. Sanders, I be voting exclusively for him or ANY Democrat for president and ALL Democratic candidates down ballot.
Simply stated, “I am for democracy.”
1
@Richard oh dear. Bernie is NOT an extremist. His ideas are the norm in Scandinavian countries, and rest of the developed world except for the US.
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Trump and his press are eager to characterize Sanders’ positions as “extremist” and voters who don’t think, or voters who haven’t been thinking politically for more than a few years, fall for that.
1
One point rarely made about Putin is that Russia's wealth (and his) depends largely on fossil fuels. A green American president like Sanders will oppose the economic interests of Russia and its allies in the fossil fuel industry. They do not want to see reduced demand for their products as a result of climate-sensible policies in the US or elsewhere.
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@dschulen: yes, and how can the all-knowing MSM fail to understand and report on this clear fact? The MSM is so clueless and ignorant of everything climate.
Does Putin believe Bernie Sanders will increase the Pentagon budget? Continue to encourage U.S. oil and gas production so the U.S. remains a net exporter of energy? Press our NATO allies to pay their fair share for the defense of Europe? Ink more international trade agreements? Doubtful, but he would certainly be encouraged by Sanders adding tens of trillions of dollars to the national debt in order to pay for his domestic social entitlement programs.
At a time of massive income inequality, a desperate crisis in affordable housing with half a million homeless and so many living in deep poverty, when college students can't pay their loans and, worse, have lousy job prospects, when so many have no insurance or are underinsured or bankrupt from medical expenses, when we face a looming and unthinkable climate crisis, when our schools, our bridges, our streets are in shocking disrepair, when we see our young returning from so many military sites of intervention, their limbs amputated, their psyches traumatized; and after so many, many terms of politicians, Democrats and Republicans, who claimed they were going to help American citizens, how can anyone be surprised that Bernie Sanders is leading and will continue to lead? He has a long and unimpeachable record of integrity and commitment to the poor, working classes, women, people of color, the environment, and peace. He has a long record of being able to work across the aisle. He is exclusively supported by voters, not corporations or dark money PACs. Are our media so out of touch that they cannot recognize what is actually happening in our nation? Sanders isn't on the left: He is at the center, if by center you mean what most Americans need and want, which is to return to an earlier moment when everyone paid their fair share of taxes and the money was distributed ethically and appropriately to the poor and working classes to help them achieve a decent quality of life.
4
@Valerie The length of that first sentence and its content has exhausted me for the rest of the day!
@spb Just imagine how exhausted all the people are who are suffering those conditions (that said, I do love the rhetorical device of anaphora--opening phrase repetition--to emphasize but also connect related ideas, and the ghastly state of our nation for the majority of Americans is, alas, a rather unified phenomenon, like my sentence!
Excellent analysis once again Ms. Goldberg. Thanks.
1
Putin's propagandists understand very well, and accurately, that a Sanders nomination means a Trump victory. The pressing question, and one that might better occupy your print space, is why so many Americans can't (or won't) see this. My diagnosis is escapism, Trump trauma myopia, a need for immediate psychic relief, however temporary.
I don't think Putin supports Sander for POTUS. He is supporting him because he has already calculated he will lose to trump. Putin was, is, and will always be KGB. He is sharp and calculating and playing a global "3-D chess" game while trump hasn't even located the table. Four more years of trump will be a global disaster from which we undoubtedly will not recover for decades - if ever.
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@Jenna
Maybe Putin read the Times or watches MSNBC instead of looking at the polls. One could be easily misled.
1
C'mon - the russians want Sanders because they believe, and so do I, that Bernie will lose to trump.
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But a centrist Democrat would easily beat him? Did that happen in 2016?
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A centrist Democrat lost to Trump in 2016, so we should nominate the guy who lost to the centrist Democrat in 2016?
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Let me make a minor emendation to your post: a centrist Democrat—who, BTW, beat Bernie by nearly 4 million votes in the 2016 primaries—won the popular vote by over 3 million in the general election, only to lose the race due to the seriously outdated Electoral College, which gives undeserved weight to underpopulated rural areas that swing Republican. Now, if you think Bernie, as a self-designated Democratic Socialist, is going to win over more of those red regions in 2020, I have a nice little bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
The Russians are helping Bernie so that he'll be the nominee. They think that he will be the easiest candidate for Trump to beat, and that's why they're doing it.
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@akp3
Maybe they are listening to media pundits rather than looking at the polls. One could be easily misled.
1
@akp3 - My intuition based on no factual reporting done on Russia's interference into the 2020 presidential race, is that Russia is betting that the majority of Americans will believe false accusations about Bernie Sanders record. They believe that just as Donald Trump the selfish billionaire was able to transform his image to the public as a concerned populist man of the people fighting for the little guy public relations image, the Russians & GOP apparatus can brand Sanders as a crazy old Socialist who will wreck the American economy & install Venezuelan like government laws which will bankrupt everyone & leave them a pariah in the international community. Putin & Russia are banking on the gullibility & lack of information of the American public as they do their "thing" of dividing, distorting and negatively haranguing Trump's opponents based on sensational yellow journalism & fear mongering.
1
@akp3
I don't doubt what you say; however, that does not make it true.
"Unlike Trump, Sanders would not be a stooge for Russia."
Perhaps, but then there is always Cuba, Venezuela and Hamas.
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@Joshua Schwartz
Afraid the embassy will go back to Tel Aviv? You do know Sanders spent awhile on a Kibbutz when he was young, right. Your founders were socialists.
Where’s the proof? You have none.
First, let's acknowledge any poll that shows Sanders (or anyone else at this point in the race) beating Trump in November is totally worthless. We all know that these numbers will flip flop a half dozen times between now & election day. To even cite them is absurd. Second Goldberg fails to answer the most fundamental question: How does it serve Putin's interest to have Sanders as POTUS? Sanders promises to reduce military spending, be less willing to use military force and ban fracking. The last being the most important. The value of Russia's oil & gas assets would skyrocket making them much more dangerous. They will also have a free hand in causing turmoil throughout the world. If this is indeed Russia's intention it's a brilliant diabolical move. It's heads they win, tails they win. If Sanders loses that's also good for them. They know he will split the party. Moderate suburban voters won't vote for Democratic Socialism. His nomination would also compel independent swing voters to hold their nose & vote for Trump again. Result: civil war in the Democratic party, Trump wins. If Sanders loses the nomination outright to say Klobuchar or Bloomberg the Bernie Bros will claim Russian interference & stay home. Result: Trump wins. Frankly, at this point, the Russians don't have to lift a finger for this plan to work. They've already injected a huge dose of doubt into the election. The net effect: the country will be further polarized with Congress in perpetual gridlock mode.
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Replacing the worlds most expensive healthcare system that leaves millions uninsured or underinsured, with the system every other first world nation has that doesn’t leave millions bankrupted by medical bills, covers everyone and has better outcomes and is supported by a plurality of voters ...
... would have people marching in the streets?
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@Kirk Land If people replace their employer health care with Medicare they will see premiums drop by as much as 70%. Also, employers will finally be free of the burden of financing employee healthcare. The stock market will explode as the balance sheets of most corporations go positive. Regulations already abound, especially the ones regarding who you can get medical care from, which pre-existing conditions are treatable, etc. These will be abolished. Defense spending will hopefully be a fraction. Currently we are investing 54% of discretionary spending on the military... And we are *not*even*at*war!
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@Bill Brown "They've already injected a huge dose of doubt into the election."
Indeed. All the. Russians have to do is say on an unsecured line "We want Trump and Sanders," which costs them nothing.
And half of the US, led by the media, go hysterical for months over it... Not a bad return for Putin on zero investment.
26
Sanders has had a long and mostly friendly association with Russia including going there for his honeymoon. You have to think there's a pretty thick KGB file on him that could even contain kompromat information. In any case, if he didn't find Brezhnev objectionable then it's hard to see why he would find Putin objectionable.
1
If Bernie admires the Russian educational system, then he will give Putin a free pass. It worked for Castro and Cuba - and we know one thing about Sanders, her hasn’t changed his political orientation or his views in decades.
Also, unless Sanders is prepared to back up his hectoring with the possible use of military force, Putin will take him about as seriously as he did Obama, which is to say not at all.
3
Ms. Goldberg has made some good points, but I think the ability of the Russians or any foreign power to influence in the outcome of an election through the use of the social media has been vastly overblown.
There have always been political liars within our own country. Most Russians could care less about what is going on here. The principal threat within the social media will always be those who live inside our own borders, not remote foreigners.
Of course, our foreign opponents would like to see our country torn apart by internal divisions along lines of race, religion, and gender. But this is also true of the wealthy elite in this country, some of whom also wish to see the working class divided in order to protect control of their assets.
Those in power have always sought class division to preserve their position in all cultures throughout history. This strategy is sometimes called "divide and conquer." It should be mentioned in the first chapter of every Political Science text book.
3
Putin might not want a Sanders presidency compared to the re-election of his client Trump, true. But Putin wants chaos and disruption in America and a polarized and polarizing election is irresistible to him.
5
What benefit to Putin? The President has favored energy independence for America, providing energy to Europe so they aren’t reliant on Russian gas and oil, closed Russia’s spy nests in NY and San Francisco, increased the Pentagon budget, applied stiffer sanctions against Putin and his cronies, provided Ukraine with lethal arms, pressed NATO members to pay their fair share, and presided over an American economy that has continued to grow the past four years. If that is a benefit to Putin, he must be working for our side.
1
@J House: Those spy nests were closed, lethal arms provided to Ukraine and stiffer sanctions imposed, by Congress in spite of Trump! Trump has alienated USAs traditional allies and the economy is in a bubble due to Trump’s tax heist for the wealthy that the rest of Americans will have to pay for with harsh cuts in Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. And the US is still heavily reliant on Saudi oil and doesn’t do anything to promote clean energy.
2
The President ordered the closing of the Russian embassy in San Francisco and the Russian annex in NY in August 2017. The U.S. is now a net energy exporter and imports no oil from Saudi Arabia. It was the Trump, not the Obama administration, that pushed legislation through Congress that provided arms to Ukraine. Say what you will about the tax cuts, but the recovery has extended out another four years under Trump. None of these policies benefit Putin’s Russia.
1
@Anna
With Americans this uninformed, no wonder Bernie Sanders is on the precipice of becoming the Democratic nominee.
Pundits make their living trying to explain what politicians REALLY mean.
Bernie says what he means and means what he says.
What will the pundits write about when Bernie is elected president?
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@DL pundits only write for each other as their intended audience. Then they pat each other’s back of what a fine article you have written you are so brilliant. Much back thumping.
Thanks, Michelle, for stating the plain truth. Putin does not want Sanders to get elected. He wants Trump, his bff who has done far more in Russia than take his honeymoon. Putin has been following our pundits as they wring their hands and believes what they say about the end of world if Sanders gets the nomination. There are always cross currents and subtleties in other cultures that don't translate easily and this may be one of them.
Michelle is correct about Sanders. He despises autocrats. He is the most truly pro-democracy politician in a very long time. With him, it isn't lip service. It's bedrock. Autocrats cannot flatter him, and they sure can't stay in his summer cottage to curry favor.
4
Bernie Sanders is not unstoppable !
Nevada for generations was aware of Mr. Sanders to be a household name among Latinos. Even then Mr. Biden received lage number of Black votes.
trump and Sanders supporters are way more similar.
Bernie supporters are always sticking by him no matter what just like trump supporters.
I am still counting on Joe Biden, personally I like Mayor Pete .
Could we expect that Bernie Bros in case He is not the nominee, they going to sit out or vote for the nominee ?
2
Russia is a Petro-autocracy. Their economy is reliant on gas, oil and coal. Sanders and the Green New Deal would threaten this far more than the neocon obsession with restarting a cold war in support of our economic base of weapons and militaria. Putin meddles at his own risk if he has supported Sanders -- which is doubtful.
4
"In this project, Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset."
And what would be differnt now if Trump is indeed a "conscious asset" of Putin? His every move sinc taking office is reducible to to 'What would Putin Want"
3
"But Russia doesn’t have any special insight into how American elections are going to play out"
Actually, it's fair to assume that Russia does have a highly sophisticated intelligence gathering apparatus in place, so I'm not sure if above statement is entirely true.
The fact that they want Bernie Sanders to run against Trump means that they judge this outcome to be in the best interest of Russia. That much is clear.
4
It's to give Trump a weaker opponent and to further fracture the american people. Sanders actually becoming president is not on their list of objectives. They want americans at each others throats and the best way to do that is to get the furthest fringes of american politics running against each other. It hardly matters because they'll be paralyzed in office because they can't accomplish meaningful legislation without holding both congress and the white house.
5
What was immediately obvious to me when I heard that Russia is helping both the Trump and Sanders campaigns, is that this aid will only last through the duration of the Democratic primaries. As soon as the Democrats have settled on a final candidate, be it Bernie or anybody else, all the Russian 'help' will be concentrated on Trump. Putin wants Bernie as the Democratic nominee simply because he'll be the easiest to beat. And we all know that Putin loves having The Donald in the White House.
4
The complaints and smears about Sanders' love of communism is based on such thin gruel it's amazing from the lips of supposedly intelligent people.I am including, to only anti-Soviets, cold warriors, but anti-Castro Cubans. Sanders is anti-Putin.. loud and clear. Focus should be on the vote for what's good for this country. It's Fear of the Smear. People who think more deeply and listen to what Sanders is saying should hear someone who is looking at the positive aspects of these communist systems, education, healthcare, cultural support. Those Sanders agrees are NOT outweighed by the authoritarian aspects, the lack of freedom and corruption.
We need to watch what is going on right here.
8
Hmmm. Yes, Sanders would definitely despise Putin. As should we all. But the only thing Putin cares about us whether Sanders would actually *do* anything about it. Unless Sanders manages to ride in on a blue wave which brings an almost unimaginable change to the balance of power in Congress (which seems less not more likely in a Sanders-Trump matchup), the only example the US will have to show the world will be chaos. I’d like to be wrong, but I suspect a Sanders presidency will suit Putin just fine . . .
3
It’s a win win for Putin who, as usual, is thinking in broad strategic terms. For Putin, if Sanders is the nominee, there are good reasons to believe Trump will win. That’s a win for Putin. If that approach doesn’t work and miraculously Sanders becomes becomes president, that will almost guarantee that the Dems will not take the Senate and probably lose the House. That will mean political paralysis for at least 4 years and that’s a win for Putin.
3
No, Putin wouldn’t want Sanders to replace Trump. Sanders wants to create a political system - together with the people - based on "the democratic principles of one person - one vote - and end a corrupt system which allows billionaires to buy elections." This doesn't resonate with Putin's authoritarian kleptocratic regime. Besides, Sanders is no fawning admirer of Putin . The Kremlin hopes that Sanders would be the Democratic nominee, but too progressive for many moderates’ taste, making him a weak opponent to run against Trump.
Should Sanders win the nomination, Putin would dig dirt on Sanders and paint him as a socialist. Video clips from the 1980s of Sanders talking about his visits to the Soviet Union, Cuba and Nicaragua are being spread online by his rivals. He has come under attacks for his – what they say naively positive views on socialism – making him vulnerable to GOP attacks in the November election.
5
Ms. Goldberg avoids the two biggest reasons Putin would support Sanders: Sanders wants drastic cuts in the military budget and Sanders is an isolationist. Putin hated Obama because while Germany and the rest of Western Europe chose to protect their main source of oil over Ukraine, Obama continued to push the issue. Why would Putin want an Obama restoration through Biden or another "centrist." It doesn't matter that Russia is no longer communist - they are a superpower seeking to extend its hegemony. Sanders, like Trump, creates a vacuum to let them do so.
3
@Rusty Two debates ago Bernie Sanders proposed the "not so crazy" idea of getting world leaders to get together around a table and try to come up with a way to slow climate change and promote peace. Duck! Here come the "You're so naive" comments. Bernie is not an isolationist, but rather is willing to work- truly, honestly and with real conviction and dedication- at using the power and leverage of America to work with other nations to solve our planet's problems. Many of our fathers came back from World War II glad to be home, but sickened by war and supported a way to end it. ( Women too, of course.) The United Nations was seen as a way to try to do that. The idea that maybe, just maybe we can rise to the occasion and be better than we are is more of a possibility with a President Sanders. *Each country acts in their own self interest, most countries are aware that climate change is the existential threat. If we had someone of Sanders' caliber to push for working with others and not against, there is a chance. Please consider the alternative before dismissing these "crazy ideas."
1
I agree that the US under Sanders' domestic reforms could become a shining example to the world's young idealists.
However, I doubt that the same would be the case if Sanders' foreign policy is oriented around expanding American style democracy and rules-based-order in the face of the "new authoritarian axis" as mentioned in the article.
I can't see how Sanders could do that and not be a militarist.
Unless, of course, he intends to do it by manipulating other countries' elections.
People around the world are sick of American righteousness, and are hoping that one day America will be happy to live with others as equals in a multi-polar world.
Somehow, wrongly it seems, I thought that this day could come with Sanders.
@Jackson Dependent or debt free? Education and healthare requisite to innovation.
1
Sanders is going to win because instead of cowering at tRump's insults, he has the perfect rejoinder:
"If believing that no one should be left with crushing debts because they needed healthcare or wanted an education, then I'm a socialist."
"If believing that corporations and billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes, instead of paying less as a percentage of income than working people, then I'm a socialist."
Bernie will utterly chew tRump up in a debate. It'll be the heavyweight match of the century.
1
@Chris Manjaro The statements of Sanders quoted here are to the point and express the vision of a truly honest and compassionate leader. Thank you!
Ms. Goldberg has it right here. I also believe that Sanders would be a nightmare for Russia. He is tough and ethical. I don't agree with all of his policies but I believe he cares about helping people and therefore he will get my vote. The GOP will serve up a million lies trying to confuse the public about Soviets, socialists, and Putin. I wish Sanders would make a clearer statement for the uneducated about what it truly means to be a socialist because most of the electorate is confused and equates the idea with Stalinist or Communist China.
2
I do believe that Putin supports the nomination of Sanders as the Democratic candidate, but not as president Sanders. I think that Putin along with Trump believe that Trump can easily defeat Sanders because of his self proclaimed Democratic Socialist beliefs. I agree with Ms. Goldberg that Sanders would not be a stooge for Putin and Putin knows that.
What Sanders needs to do is clear up the misconception and convince people that socialism is not communism and that government control of healthcare would be financially better for the country than our present system. The problem is that the people and companies that benefit from the current healthcare system will not give up easily no matter what their political convictions are.
Just like the military industrial complex our medical system has grown into a monster that makes many people rich at the expense of true healthcare and personal finances.
At this time Sanders is doing a poor job of selling his form of healthcare. He needs to take a lesson from JFK as he had to prove that as the first catholic presidential candidate his allegiance was to this country and not to the pope.
I would prefer Biden's plan of keeping and fixing the ACA, but he's doing such a poor job with his candidacy that Sanders just may be the Democratic candidate.
Either one would be better than Trump, but Sanders must do a better job of selling his ideas
2
The first thing Bernie would do is to cut the "bloated" defense budget to support the "starved" social (meaning welfare) budget. Putin, not to mention China, would be delighted to know that the US under a "peace=loving" socialist not only lacks the will to defend itself, but also lacks the means.
Ms. Goldberg you make excellent points. I would just point out that there are 3 articles across from your opinion piece (digital) that are negative pieces about Senator Sanders.
It would be helpful to begin a discussion about what socialism and its many forms are. Ignorance and old myths are being employed immorally. Part of the journalists job s to illuminate.
Thank you for your compassion and willingness to see the human in the politics.
2
Sanders would get an immediate leg up if would only call himself a 'social democrat' (as in the very successful Scandinavian countries) rather than a 'democratic socialist'. 'Social' is like ice cream socials and schmoozing; 'socialist' is scary to many. A distinction without a difference, perhaps, but semantically important.
9
I'm all for Bernie (or anyone besides Trump), but Scandinavian countries can afford what Bernie proposes, since the U.S. puts most of its money towards global defense.
Trump may be too far ahead of his time. To be politically viable, he can't publicly state global warming may result in mass migration and a perceived need for isolation and authoritarianism (coronavirus, anyone?).
1
@Marj Woldan
If you think Trump has any control over his utterances, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. He blurts whatever comes out of his mouth with all the discretion of a marionette.
As for US defense making Scandinavian social democracy possible, that is the most amazing reductionist argument I've heard in a long time - it ranks up there with "LOCAL MAN DIES IN JAPAN" as the small-town American newspaper's headline for the Hiroshima killing an American tourist as collateral damage.
American military spending is a bloated waste driven by the military-industrial complex lobbyists purchasing American politicians wholesale for decades. Just ask Eisenhower. It goes far beyond anything we, or anyone else, conceivably needs, particularly when you consider that the real threat is cyber warfare and social media manipulation.
And Putin has already won the first skirmish.
One thing people need to keep in mind. The notion that the gravy train will go on forever is absolute fantasy. Do all these 'middle class' people think their economic well being will rise, fall, or stay the same when the 'best economy ever' comes to an end? With Trump your average 1% income rise will end rather quickly, with the average person worse off as everything else they need like healthcare still out of reach. With Sanders those things are provided. Via taxes on the wealthy. You know the money that was supposed to b trickle down from above, but hasn't. The promises Trump made having gone unfulfilled. Let's face it. If Trump's economic plan was so great for the middle class, why are so many people looking to Bernie for the answers?
4
M. Goldberg is one of the few columnists here I still look forward to reading (most of the rest seem to write the same things over and over in one form or another). Some valid points in the comments, but some of those stray far from Goldberg's narrow (and well focused) argument about a potential Sanders presidency and Putin.
5
I dare say it will be more than "young idealists" around the world applauding a Sanders victory. Most certainly our European allies will be breathing a sigh of relief too. Not to mention Canada. Like us they have had enough of the Twitter-In-Chief.
14
@Citizen Indeed, that's true! Best regards from Europe.
1
Thanks for bringing intelligence and perspective in clearly pointing out the vast moral as well as political differences between Trump and Sanders, on every front.
8
Perhaps Putin would hate President Sanders as Michelle suggests, but he seems to just love the idea of Democratic Nominee Sanders. That's because Bernie will never become President Sanders. Both Putin and Trump are getting exactly the Democratic candidate they want Trump to run against.
Sanders galvanizes Trump's hardcore supporters and worries the 15-20% of voters who are on the fence. And the electoral math just doesn't work for Bernie. If you add up the electoral votes for all the very blue states and assume Bernie wins most the blue/purple states (e.g., PA, MD, IL), he will still lose FL, MI and OH and the electoral college. He simply won't get enough people who voted for Trump in 2016 over to his side, and he will lose a chunk of the voters who went for Hillary. There are not enough new Bernie voters to overcome those two factors.
2
That’s not the intent.
Putin uses other people, many who he doesn’t like, to advance his vision of creating chaos and destabilizing the West to create more opportunities for Russia to invade, steal, plunder, etc.
Putin uses Sanders to get Trump re-elected, his top choice. But in the (unlikely) event that Sanders gets elected, Putin gets a divider that half of the country dislikes with a Congress that will oppose all his moves too. This also means good business for Putin.
3
So, no one is going to point out that we do not yet have even a single shred of evidence that Russia is helping Bernie? We do not have a single example or proven case. Not one. We have not even been told HOW this supposed help is happening.
I refuse to believe anything for which we have no evidence, no examples, no nothing.
8
Why no mention in the Original Post of current admin's anti-Russia actions?
Trump armed the Ukrainians, re-invigorated NATO by insisting that members take an interest in their own defense; wounded Russia's key ally, Iran; overseen an expansion and strengthening of American armed forces. He has encouraged fracking and development of U.S. oil and gas resources, which has kept down the global price of oil, and considered sanctions on Russia's Nordstream 2 gas pipeline.
This hurts Russia which is essentially a "heavily armed gas station." Petroleum represents more than 50% of Russia's total exports, and natural gas is its main geopolitical weapon against Western Europe
Further: he has expelled Russian diplomats. sanctioned many Russian officials and oligarchs, all to Putin's deep,chagrin.
It puzzles me too that Trump slavers over the likes of Putin. But these actions have hardly been those of a Russian stooge or "conscious Russian asset".
5
You’re correct, trump is not a “conscious” asset to Putin, but he is definitely an asset, an aider, and an abetter. Trump says he believes Putin over our own security agencies- that’s traitorous and none of what you said can refute that. Trump just wants to be a dictator. He doesn’t care about America at all.
Seriously? This "analysis" omits a lot that Putin would love about a Sanders Presidency. Just the reduction in defense spending (which I favor) and scaling back military forces overseas
would be a big win for Putin. For that matter, would any other autocrat worry about what President Sanders might do? Or would those anti-democrats just expect stern words?
Bernie is NOT Trump. But Russia would cheer either one winning.
A more important point is that Democrats will NOT control the Senate without picking up GA and/or NC. And no one is claiming Sanders would help in those races.
8
Sanders in not a socialist and all democratic socialists operate constructively within capitalist democracies. Of course it could be argued that the US is no longer either capitalist or democratic since monopolies and oligopolies have compromised the competition of our free market and are exclusively represented by Congress. We need a Sanders or a Warren to restore competition, representation of our citizens and way of life.
10
Warren. To be effective, mainstream and wrestle the houses of congress to enact sound law. She’s done it before, and helped create coalitions effectively.
8
@Robert Goldschmidt : Sanders calls HIMSELF a socialist. If it quacks like a duck....
Also, Sanders honeymooned in Moscow if I am not mistaken. And visited Cuba when it was Moscow's puppet state.
I'd say Sanders is a lot more likely to be "Putin's puppet" than Trump....
@Robert Goldschmidt
Robert, it's immaterial whether Sanders is a socialist or a democratic socialist. If you live in the US, you should know why.
Most Americans aren't political junkies who read the New York Times, and Americans in general are woefully ignorant.
Did you ever see Jay Leno go out on the street outside the studio and ask passersby the simplest questions and hear the comically stupid answers he got?
In a National Geographic poll taken in 2014, two out of three Americans polled, aged 18 to 24, couldn't locate Great Britain on a map. The same year, Newsweek polled 1,000 Americans and 29% couldn't name the current vice president, Joe Biden.
This is why the orange stain occupies the White House. The Republicans exploit the ignorance of the American electorate with the constant aid of Fox News and social media.
All they'll need to do is give their definition of what socialism is, while wrapping Trump in the American flag, and the term will be a devastatingly effective pejorative.
The Republicans are so good at messaging because they know their audience.
Trump promoted a wall and people believed Mexico would pay for it.
Sanders promotes M4A and people believe- because they want to believe- that it will get passed. By decree? Will all Repubs disappear?
Dems won the House in 2018 by 11 points! By running moderate candidates in swing districts. Almost all liberal candidates lost in contested districts in 2018. Google it. That experience does not suggest we run a liberal in our divided country if we want to win.
Which moderate Dem representatives who delivered the gavel to Pelosi want to campaign with Bernie in their swing districts? Probably none. Bernie is the only Dem likely to oust Pelosi. That is a horrific risk to America and the planet. Don't.
Health care coverage was the Dems strongest campaign issue in 2018. Bernie wants to take 140 million peoples' insurance away. Wanting to do so takes the health care issue away from Dems and casts Republicans as protectors of health care, An amazing & foolish accomplishment.
However great you think Bernie is, he changes the election from a referendum on Trump's evil to a referendum on American capitalism vs. Socialism. Nobody else can cast Trump as the hero defending capitalism from the scary socialist who wants a revolution. Don't set this up for Trump.
I don't care how much anyone likes Bernie or his policies. Defeating Trump is the only policy issue. Keep the House. WIn the senate. Con't put them at risk. Base a strategy on what is proven to work.
10
@JT - John Tucker It's the framing. Sanders should say that folks can continue to pay premiums and co-payments while restricting their choice of providers if they so choose. They can continue to fight with their insurance company if that fills them with joy.
Or they can get it all with no muss, no fuss, and no charges. There is no functional difference between M4A and M4AllWhoWantIt. As if anybody would choose to buy insurance when absolutely free Medicare is available.
3
@JT - John Tucker
A mischaracterization of Bernie - he doesn't want to take their health care away, and I wince at the repetition of manipulative talking points.
Bernie wants Medicare for All, which means expanding health care beyond the current levels of private-plus-Obamacare, which still leaves many Americans uninsured. Bernie will expand health care to those uninsured.
Keep in mind, as well, that any health care plan will have to run the gauntlet of Congress and much back-and-forth, just as Obamacare did. What we gain with Sanders and/or Warren is a President who will make providing healthcare, finally, to the millions of uninsured Americans a priority.
I doubt very much that Sanders or anyone else has the power to force people off their health care, but if they did, it would be to put them on a plan like Obamacare. I have been very happily and inexpensively covered thereon since midnight of the day it went live.
The talking point that Bernie is taking away healthcare is a gross mischaracterization.
1
@Bohemian Sarah Policy arguments among Dems is not the point. Bernie's candidacy destroys Dem advantages in the election and makes Republcans the defenders of American capitalism & peoples' health insurance.
I did not write "health care." I wrote "Bernie wants to take 140 million peoples' INSURANCE away." Not a gross mischaracterization. Repubs will campaign on it.
Your suggest that other candidates do not think providing health care is a priority. It is the main idea all of them want to talk about. Bernie- whether or not he can accomplish it- is promoting taking health insurance away from millions, thereby casting Repubs as defenders of peoples' health insurance. Bernie is not popular in the districts that put Pelosi in power. That's why they were flipped by more moderate candidates.
Refusing to engage with these facts, this reality- that moderates (honest & miles to the left of Repubs) won in 2018 swing districts, and left wing candidates mostly lost– risks Pelosi's control of the House. Don't.
In 2000 dedicated environmentalists wanting to do good for the world voted Green, for Ralph Nader. The result was "W" instead of Al Gore.
Please vote to remove Trump. I hope if Bernie is the candidate he wins big. But risking Pelosi & the world on a belief that is diametrically opposed to the reality of what won in 2018 is a gift to Trump & McConnell.
1
"But if they do and Sanders becomes president, Putin may live to regret what his country did to build support for him."
If you think the Russian buildup will continue after Bernie's nominated, you're not thinking clearly.
The minute he wins the nomination, if he does, everything the Russians have done to help him will be reversed to take him out.
It's symptomatic of how sure they are that they can destroy him that they're helping him now.
They haven't the faintest desire to see a President Sanders in the White House. They have no kompromat on him.
Trump is their tool because he laundered Russian mob money for decades, and Putin knows every mobbed-up oligarch whose money went through Trump's hands. There's no chance they want to swap Trump out for Bernie. They want four more years of subservience.
They're building Bernie up to knock him down.
5
“Under Trump, the U.S. has abandoned the pretense of backing democracy and human rights, meaning there are no longer any great powers that even pretend to put morality at the center of foreign affairs.” I think there should be a hyperlink to what backs such a strong claim. Also, why does’t Burnie say he beleives in social democracy? Why does he keep the “socialism” tag? And does is not look odd when he seems to sympathize with Communists but not really strongly condemn them? Do we want a leader who has called the United States basically "racist from top to bottom"?
7
@Shielder : that's pretty darn funny! an old white guy (with three houses!) who never held a job until elected at age 40 to Congress! -- who lives in literally THE WHITEST STATE in the Union! calls the USA "racist from top to bottom"?
Pot, meet kettle.
"In this project, Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset."
I thought the subjunctive was supposed to be used for counterfactuals.
3
If we have developed sophisticated cyberwarfare tools as is sometimes claimed, Trump should warn Putin that if the disinformation campaigns continue, the U.S. will use its cyberwarfare tools to negatively affect Russia. Of course, Trump will not do that since he welcomes Putin's assistance in winning re-election, and he fawns over Putin whenever given a chance. Our president is an agent for Russia and Putin, and the GOP supports his alignment with our former military adversary who still is a threat to the U.S. and its democracy.
1
Conflating Russian preference for Sen. Sanders as the Democratic nominee with him being Putin's choice in the genergal election against Trump is very sloppy thinking.
Much of such speculation has been done by people who aren't likely to vote for any Democratic nominee. For some reason what Republicans say about the process of choosing the Democratic nominee is considered meaningful, when logic tells us that their part of this discussion should be taken seriously only after one is chosen.
And as usual Mr. Trump is leading the wrong discussion, He should be outraged at the idea of Putin's choice having any relevance whatsoever to the 2020 elections and assuring us that the administration is taking every step possible to keep him out.
It's also hard to believe that Russia has made enough progress on the anti-Semitism front to prefer either Sen. Sanders or Mayor Bloomberg to Mr. Trump.
2
Thank you for your courage in writing this. I can imagine many of your friends and acquaintances will raise their eyebrows and whisper behind your back.
But what you've written is the truth, and it even has a whiff of hope to it. It reflects the hope that so many of us Sanders supporters are feeling at this moment as he ignites the country.
1
They are supporting Sanders not because they want him president, but because they know Trump will destroy him in the general.
9
Let's hope this is a watershed moment in history when voters, fed up with old approaches to world problems, select new approaches and new political alignments. There is reason to believe that is the case, given DJT's win in 2016 as anything but a traditional Republican (no cuts in SS, a promise of better health care insurance, and no worry about deficits). However, he, having no ideas of his own except frivolous ones (border wall and tariffs and obsessively fighting our allies), has governed as a traditional Republican with enormous tax cuts for the already wealthy. We will see if the voters can decide on real change in the coming election when presented with Bernie as the candidate, or any other of the progressive Democrats. In a way it is back to the future if a Democrat is the next president, that is a continuation of the progressive policies of FDR and Lyndon Johnson. They gave us SS, medicare, assistance to the poor, and on and on.
"The Russian autocrat may support Sanders, but Sanders doesn’t support him."
That is correct. All the same, I would like to choose our own nominee, without Russian interference. As it is, the illegal Trump Ukraine scheme and the subsequent impeachment greatly damaged Biden and greatly helped Sanders. The self-described socialist as nominee could very well fail to win the Senate and lose the House. Given the present crop of Congressional Republicans, that would be a Putin win.
4
I wonder what the odds of Bernie asking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be his VIP / running mate. I admit I used to joke about a Sanders / Bloomburg ticket but I would imagine AOC would be far more likely.
1
AOC is too young to be VP as minimum age is 35, so the odds are zero.
8
@Hypoteneus Why are you throwing Nina Turner under the bus? As co-chair of his campaign, she has done a wonderful job! I have loved her since her Senatorial days in Ohio.
I'm with the Medevev assistant's view on this. Putin doesn't want Bernie as president. However, he can read the tea leaves the same way many of us here do. Divide and conquer is a military axiom much older than Russia. Today there is disarray in the Democratic candidate race. Putin is merely aggravating that. It's bad enough many suspect the Bernie Bros will sit out an election without him at the top of the ticket. But look how many comments there are already on various boards by "never Trumpers" and self-identified D's who say they will vote for Trump over Bernie. Probably at least 70,000, half of which may be bot initiated for all we really know.
1
Putin's is the long game. As the article suggests towards the end, his aim is causing 'social dissolution' among democracies everywhere. It breaks the social contract that binds people together as a nation, and weakens a civilisation from within. The attack from outside succeeds when that society/civilisation is already weakened from within. Like termite ridden rafters within that will bring the roof down with the slightest final push from without.
In Tump, Putin has found a cat's paw, highly willing due to his extreme narcissism. Send him a red rose, and you'll receive a love letter. As happened in the one night stand between N.Korea's Kim and him. Trump's naive vaunting personality is a poor match for the silently plotting, smiling, KGB trained mind of Putin.
To that end of social break-up, Bernie, the polar extreme to Trump, will serve Putin objective well. But so will Bloomberg or any other Democrat. The seeds of polarisation were sown a while ago and have borne fruit in the USA and UK and parts of Europe in recent years.
Getting into the weeds to do an analysis of individual platforms and programs makes us miss the wood for the trees. The former Russian chess master Kasparov sees Putin's long game and pointed it out today on CNN. But focusing on ad hoc tactics rather than long term strategies seems to sell better in the media, given our short attention span which requires daily storms in tea-cups.
1
Michelle,
You diminish an otherwise cogent and credible analysis by calling Bernie a socialist. He has *never* advocated for worker ownership of the means of production, ever. This is the definition of socialism. Bernie, like the majority of voters in countries we would do well to emulate (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) for their health care and education systems, are Democratic Socialist, where capital is still privately owned. You know that. Please don’t feed the Trump fear mongering that Bernie is an actual Socialist. Doing so serves no one but Trump.
9
@Buck Rogers
Sweden has neither a wealth tax or inheritance tax. Just extremely high income taxes.
Under Bernie the US would get a wealth tax and a supercharged inheritance tax along with many other taxes.
Both taxes are designed to effectively convert private wealth to public wealth, basically meaning the public would have at least quasi part ownership of the means of production.
Billionaires don't keep their billions in a vault. Their wealth is in assets which generally generate jobs and income for many.
Set whatever income and capital gain taxes you want, but a wealth tax is poor policy.
Trump only has to wave Bernie's tax and spend policy document to serve himself the presidency.
1
@Paul
Hello Paul.
First of all, accruing more wealth to the wealthy has been proven to NOT generate more jobs - that's trickle down economics, a completely disproven economic theory (if you can even call it that). And how taxes equate to the public having quasi part ownership in the means of production is rather elusive - are you suggesting that when the government takes a few billion dollars from Jeff Bezos to help fund public education or health care (leaving him with countless billions regardless), that somehow the government is going to start buying stakes in private enterprise (businesses), so then the public suddenly becomes an owner of private companies? That's a novel idea.
Such leftie radicals as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett favor profoundly higher wealth and inheritance taxes, because they know those taxes create a more economically just *and* more stable, prosperous long term economy.
It seems like we just make the news we want. There is no way Putin is going to hate President Bernie. He would not hate someone who never supported sanctions. All he cares about is sanctions, keeping the moneyed people in the green. He could care less about anything else. He'd be fine with Bernie because Bernie (who will not get elected) will bring not the just the government to a halt but the economy. It would spiral downward so fast. That's Putin's dream.
3
I found the article describing the supposed Russian plot probably a deep chess move by the Russians. Even if some Russian agents were sent (probably online) to support Sanders, it could have been used as a red herring to make people think they support Sanders. You saw the Trump people primp and preen over the report. Whoever came up with it may have been suckered. Because Russia doesn't favor any Democratic candidates. If a Democrat wins the election, Putin's newfound sway over global affairs would be diminished.
Michelle, I feel the temporary chaos in your thoughts as your paradigm shifts. Bernie does offer hope of building a multiracial social democracy. Hope is a great motivator. Hope inspires people. Obama offered hope. In retrospect he didn't go far enough because he did not have a social democratic vision. He couldn't break out of the corporatist trap, didn't build the progressive vision and movement, lost his congressional majorities, lost his inspiring vision and ended up in a mudpile with McConnell. Lets learn from that. Bernie is a way out of the corporatist cage. Warren too, but people want their hope more pure, not focused through a realistic policy wonk's lens.
6
Certain people seem to be freaking out about Sen. Sanders leading in the primaries so far. They're being taken in by the anti-Sanders hype. Despite calling himself a socialist and calling for a revolution, you can't really call him a radical. He is rather a pretty conventional progressive (what used to be called liberal) Democrat. If you look at his voting record and what he proposes now, he is very much in line within a tradition of Democrats stretching back through LBJ to FDR. He's done a lot of good for his constituents and the country during his political career. He's made many brave choices and has been pretty consistent in his causes. And the people who are voting for him aren't some kind of red guard mob, they are a large and growing swath of real regular Americans, as diverse as we truly are. People who don't like where the powerful are taking things and just want a chance to lead a better life — with fewer existential worries. And, in a free and fair election, of course Sanders beats Tump — in a rout (it's the "free and fair" I worry about.)
14
Are you kidding me, Bernie will destroy the US economy. Oil prices will be up and no US troops abroad, what not to like by Russia. Also, the US borders will be open to everyone, Putin will love it. Bernie vs Trump is a win-win for Putin!
3
What Putin thinks of Sanders (or Trump, for that matter) is beside the point. The Point is to sow chaos and pull at the seams of our democracy.
3
The Russians want Sanders to get the Democratic nomination,
because they know that Trump will beat him and that the Democrats will also lose the house and nor regain the Senate
as a result
1
Thanks for the happy talk. We don't really know whether Putin is trying to help Sanders or simply trying to do what Trump wants him to do. And Trump could be wrong; Bernie might not lose 44 states. When I was younger I lived in Massachusetts. The morning after the 72 election I and all my acquaintances were absolutely stunned. We KNEW McGovern had a lock on the election. We did not know ANYBODY who would vote for Nixon.
2
Thank you, Michelle, I couldn't have said it better myself. Bernie Sanders' appeal to a wide spectrum of the American electorate in itself speaks to his strong connection to the concerns of everyday people. He talks truth to power and postulates a better way. Over the past 40 years, Centrist Democrat administrations have failed to bring about the meaningful change needed to rebalance our social-economic structure. The time is ripe for a different approach. As one of the 'little guys," I can't thank Bernie enough for having the courage to fight for that. He is the FDR of our time.
6
Sanders is not a Russian stooge, and he’d be more ideologically opposed to Putin than Trump.
But that doesn’t mean that Sanders would do a good job of defending America, its allies, and the “global movement for democratization and egalitarianism”. Sanders’s foreign policy outlook is fundamentally passive, which can be a problem when your peers are Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. It’s also very obvious to everyone (not the least his supporters) that he’s mostly inward-focused, and that foreign policy is not a big focus for him.
It’s fine to argue that Sanders presidency would make American democracy “a good example for the rest of the world” again. But a good foreign policy needs much more than that. America cannot, in this globalized world, hunker down and withdraw from international affairs.
Does Bernie Sanders have any policies that will actually help stop the rising tide of authoritarianism and kleptocracy? Is he willing to go to bat for America and its allies beyond simple words of encouragement? Will he steadfastly defend America’s interests, or will he be paralyzed while Russia and China ruthlessly assert theirs?
These are serious questions that need asking. The President’s strongest powers, by far, are in foreign policy. The fact that foreign policy has been almost totally absent from the campaign thus far is very frightening, and needs to be promptly corrected.
4
Putin supports Sanders because he will lose to Trump.
Why any American who wants to defeat Trump would vote for Putin's opposition choice for Trump is beyond me.
2
Trump is not the last president.
Bernie is what a young nation needs.
This old guy has a future with Americans coz he remembers why America is a land of peace, justice and hope.
I studied in seminary a man who could be described as a Jewish socialist.
That would be inaccurate to a degree.
Bernie is no messiah and makes no such pretence.
But he seems to want to be your president because America needs better leadership.
Bernie is not perfect in economic policies.
But he seems to be making a point about commitment to principles which are timeless.
The government of the US via the Constitution, Supreme Court, Congress and Presidency are rooted in ideas that were revolutionary in 1789 France.
I would argue that the point of the American experiment was to provide an opportunity for in a new land for folk to thrive.
The noble native living free in sunshine is a French idea and brings me to Bernie.
The new land following exodus is writ deep in Jewish and Catholic theology.
The garden of Eden or Paradise Lost are not mantras at Trump gatherings.
Bernie has links with Amos, Hosea and Micah, Jews who stood for justice.
9
@RC Theologian A lovely interdenominational sermon, RC. Perhaps you could send it to Bernie.
@RC Theologian
Bernie gave a sermon at Liberty University, you can find it online. I think they're going to vote for him.
This is the best column ever by Michelle Goldberg, whose inner idealist has finally come around to be inspired by Bernie Sanders. He would make America "look" great again. Faint praise, but praise nonetheless.
More and more middle age and older Americans are coming to appreciate that a principled candidacy is the only type that can be the cynicism of Donald Trump. Once you get past the "angry, shouty" impression, and listen to what Bernie actually says...well, it's no wonder Sanders is favored to beat Trump in the general election. (Just as he was in 2016, although Hillary refused to bow out.)
Thank you, Michelle Goldberg, for supporting Bernie in the august pages of the NY Times.
13
Putin's schemers have calculated that Sanders has a lower chance of defeating Trump and causes the greatest division.
He has no wish to see him as POTUS.
In my 81 yrs I have never seen this country so divided - not even during the Vietnam war.
The US desperately needs a president - NOW - whose policies and rhetoric will at least ATTEMPT to unify the divisions in the country.
Sanders with his talk of revolution isn't that man.
5
Sander’s Nevada victory speech was all about bringing people together.
“We are going to win because we are doing exactly the opposite. We’re bringing our people together! We are bringing our people together. Black and white and Latino. Native American, asian-American. Gay and straight. We are bringing our people together around an agenda that works for the working people of this country, not the one percent.”
1
You mean the captivating idea of a new and needed "revolution" is horrific or fallacious, distinct from the revolution that birthed our nation, the United States, in response to a petty and narcissistic king? How does rejuvenation sound? Safer I bet.
1
Funny that such a wide variety of people are supporting him, isn’t it?
2
Thank you, Ms. Goldberg. Here is a very fair and accurate descriptions of what Sanders supporters like myself have known all along. The only exception with it I'll take has to do with also knowing all along that it's no surprise that Sanders has begun to show he is winning. The country-wide ("50 state" strategy) and intensity of his organization should be no secret by now, but I guess it can still produce amazement. Even with the DNC basically guaranteeing the nomination for HRC in 2016, Sanders' campaign in the primaries that year was still considered "phenomenal" (Chomsky). Now that such an opposition against Sanders has been removed, his success could be a blowout. (P.S.: It always gets me that when an opponent's poll numbers are so good, they're denigrated as unreliable, premature, etc., while they still must count for something of value. The sampling for HRC in 2016 was horrible, overlooking territories along with her neglect, which thereby gave the EC win to you-know-who. The sampling this time attempts to learn from that terrible mistake, as Sanders has learned with the "50 state.")
2
Maybe not. But Bernie, for all his years, doesn't seem to get Communism. If he's going to praise Cuba's education policy he should also acknowledge its faults (see below). Not doing so makes him look as uninformed as Donald Trump. And I believe he is which is why he keeps comparing our culture and economy with homogeneous countries the size of Michigan.
"From an early age, children are indoctrinated in their schools with the government’s political beliefs of communism. Parents who violate this code by teaching their children contrary doctrine face the prospect of prison."
2
@seanne
From an early age, children are indoctrinated in their schools with the government’s political beliefs of capitalism. Teachers who violate this code by teaching the children a contrary doctrine face the prospect of getting fired.
Any teacher in any country who goes against the ruling ideology, which is strictly enforced by the parents, is in trouble.
3
There is no way Bernie us more uninformed than Trump. Bernie can read.
First, there is never going to be a President Sanders. If he is the nominee, Trump will beat him. Second, that is why Putin is working to get Sanders the nomination. Putin wants Trump, and Sanders will lose to Trump. Why is this so hard for Democrats to understand?
8
There was never going to be the President Trump, and yet that is what we have. Life could be so unpredictable.
9
@yulia...
Trump is not a Socialist/Communist.
Life can also be predictable.
People said there would never be a President Trump. And who is in the Oval now?
What Putin is doing is what every corporate industry group does, they donate to and invest in both sides. That's why we have the corporate Democrats and the corporate Republicans and why the corporations win every single time. And why the People lose every time also.
But Bernie is different, he can't be bought. Especially not by Putin, the richest man in the world who is worth 200 billion dollars.
Bernie is Putin's worst nightmare. What Putin doesn't know is that Bernie will call for a People's Revolution against Putin's status quo. Maybe against President Xi, too.
They've both had revolutions before and they're now overdue.
And why shouldn't the workers of the world unite? Because the status quo says we shouldn't? Because it will cut into their corporate profits? The global corporate elite has certainly united, why not the workers?
Maybe that's just what we need.
9
If Putin is truly trying to help Sanders, it's safe to say it's not because Vlad considers it an investment in a potential future president.
2
The claim that the 2016 election was significantly altered by Russian interference is only tenuously backed by evidence. Let's look at that evidence:
US Intelligence officials identified a peak of just $1.25 million dollars spent per month by Russia's Internet Research Agency. This includes salaries, operating costs, and finally, advertising spending. They spent less than $200,000 in total on Facebook ads. About half of that Russian ad spending was spent AFTER the election. Not tens of millions, but hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads. Bloomberg's $300 million+ spent on ads has only bought him 15% in the 2020 democratic primary.
Next, despite what many media outlets would have had you believe for an entire year in 2018, Trump is NOT a Manchurian candidate. There was no Kompromat. There was no collusion.
I absolutely agree that Russia attempted to alter the 2016 election. I agree even that Putin did so to attempt to have Trump elected. But I disagree that that the primary goal was to have Trump elected for policy reasons; sure enough, Trump has many anti-Russian policies in place. Rather, it was to sow the seed of doubt in our elections when it would inevitably be revealed that Russia interfered at all.
So, the next time that a media member asks Bernie Sanders why he is being supported by Russians, just keep in mind that Putin's true intent is inspiring doubt in your mind about his genuine, grassroots, and diverse support, and not to help elect Bernie Sanders.
5
All the dollar amount means is that Putin got this on the cheap. And Mueller himself said that he could neither prove or disprove collusion. That does not mean Trump didn’t do it. All that means is Mueller couldn’t prove it with the information that he had.
7
@Seumas M
The mainstream media is a far more potent force than Russia's IRA and they love to sow discord, that's how they make their money. Likely their elevating the fact of Russian interference had a greater effect than the interference itself.
90% of the so-called differences between so-called Republicans and so-called Democrats and the so-called left and the so-called right are due to our continual media programming
Google the Perception Gap study for the science. The effect of fake news is strong on both sides.
Republicans with only a high school education have the largest reality gap of 35%. The most highly educated Democrats were right behind them at 30%.
Once we see through our respective media programming Americans are not all that different and they want the same things as we saw in Bernie's Fox News Town Hall where the Republicans cheered everything Bernie said, to the consternation of the Fox News moderators.
2
A fresh and thoughtful analysis, Ms. Cottle. Thank you. The old talking points are getting very stale. America can have more influence in the world if we get our act together through the democratic process of elections. If we speak with a loud voice against the corruption of our own government, we can speak with more authority to citizens of other countries suffering under corrupt governments.
What gave Putin the greatest joy was when the Republican Senate let President Trump off the hook for acting corruptly in service of Putin's own goals in Ukraine. In so doing, Republicans signaled to Putin that he could make more "deals" with Trump without oversight from Congress let alone accountability. They exposed our vaunted constitutional democracy as pitiful words on paper meaning nothing when raw political power is brought to bear.
7
@abigail49 Sorry. That would be Ms. Goldberg.
I agree that the most likely reason that Putin is aiding Sanders to help Trump and that he would not want Sanders (or any of the Democrats) in the White House. The biggest reason has to do with addressing climate change. Once the US gets serious about reducing use of fossil fuels, oil prices which Russia depends on will tank. This will also do more to combat the terrorism funded by Iran and Saudi Arabia than any military operation.
6
A Sanders victory would undermine faith in American democracy when he totally fails to deliver on any of his promises. Democrats only have 47 Senators right now, and there is no prospect of them ever having enough Senators to pass the Bernie Sanders agenda. Bernie is lying to his supporters on a massive scale.
Bernie has never delivered much to his voters, despite all his fine rhetoric. As a Senator, he never got much done.
5
Spare me. Where is our 'beautiful health care' that we were promised by Trump, and he had the Congress? Every President promises improvements but all what we get stagnated salaries.
2
@yulia The difference is that people believe in Bernie.
1
Michelle Goldberg fails to face the fact that Bernie Sanders is the American version of Jeremy Corbin in many ways. A history of sympathy to left wing governments around the world, little support of the military establishment, a perceived lack of patriotism, and proposals of large entitlements. While rational arguments should be made against the Trump polar opposite to many positions of Bernie Sanders, if nominated Bernie will probably receive a defeat on the scale of the George McGovern loss to Richard Nixon in 1968 - just like Corbin losing to Boris Johnson; only far worse. His promises of free college for all, Medicare for all, come across to much of America as an unrealistic Santa Claus pie in the sky. The United Kingdom did not buy it; the United States will not buy it. That very likely is one reason why Putin could support Sanders in his quest for the Democratic party nomination. Most of Sanders supporters were born decades too late to understand this fact. I witnessed McGovern fall in an historic loss for the Democratic party (he carried one state); One should expect a loss of similar proportions for Bernie Sanders.
Just as Hilary Clinton's supporters were unable to fathom her lack of support in much or the country, the same can be said for the Bernie Sander's wing of the party. I put Michelle Goldberg in that group of being in a bubble detached from much of America.
Michelle Goldberg - dream on.
7
You don’t allow for the anger that is out there among the electorate. The 1960’s were a different time. The middle class was doing much, much better than now.
6
The moderates in the UK lost both parties. The appeal of 'moderates' didn't work in the UK, didn't work in the US. So pick your poison: extremist on the right or radical on the left. 2016 is much fresher in our memory than stale 1968.
1
@Matthew Blum Funny thing about Boris' "victory" - from the UK Express on 12/19/2019:
"The Prime Minister is due to bring into law a £33.9 billion increase in annual NHS spending by 2023/4. The announcement is due to be made during the State Opening of Parliament today, which is when the Queen reads a speech setting out the Government’s programme of legislation for the parliamentary session.
New immigration laws will be brought in to ensure doctors and nurses from overseas will have their visa applications fast tracked.
This investment in the NHS will include a new independent body for patient safety, more doctors and nurses and no hospital car parking charges.
Mr Johnson called the NHS “the single greatest institution in this country” and said he would give it the biggest investment it had seen in living memory.
Mr Johnson has pledged to start cross-party talks to solve the social care crisis in his first 100 days in office."
Universal healthcare is considered a fundamental human right in Europe, has been for a long time. Even Boris knows that he has to solve funding issues and rural disparity issues (just like we in France and the US must do - private hospitals skimming easy $ on lower cost patients and soaking public hospitals with high costs of 'urgent' care)...and it takes precedence above Brexit. Can you imagine Trump allowing foreign doctors an expedited immigration process to alleviate the shortage of GP's in the USA?
2
Putin is playing chess, not checkers. The only reason Putin could be providing support to Sanders is because Russia thinks that he would be the weakest candidate against Trump.
Whoever is the Democrats nominee, we need to get behind that person and beat Trump.
11
In some ways, I think Putin would like Sanders just as much as he likes Trump.
Why? Because Putin does not want or need a toady... he just needs an isolationist who will not confront Russia in any meaningful way..and Putin wants a divided and tribal warring American population to self-distract while Putin keeps pushing his form of Russian hegemony.
Sander agenda is so focused, and so powered and influenced by his emotional demanding progressive base on domestic issues.... That I can see Russia looking at him and US policy under him as essentially lame-duck in nature where foreign policy is concerned.
In other words.. Putin will see Sanders as an empty suit on international terms, not unlike he sees Trump... just a different form of suit.
4
@Chuck
" ...he just needs an isolationist who will not confront Russia in any meaningful way."
Ha. And you think voters falling in love with an isolationist 2 times is just a coincidence?
For those readers who write in comments saying that Bernie only appeals to the young: I'm 76. I supported Bernie in 2016 and I support him now.
And for those who came up with the notion that Putin supports him, I'd like to see real evidence. IMO, it's a bunch of fake intel, along with all the other stories designed to discredit Bernie and make that the Democratic candidate continues to support the corporate oligarchy.
99
I find this take disconcerting. Everything isn’t always fake but it has become more difficult to discern. It’s usually just an assumption and an overused and manipulated word sadly.
1
@Martha Shelley I'm with you, though only pushing 65. But I agree with the now-common analysis that 1) whatever help Russia may be giving Sanders is in the form of fake social media praise (or does he have voter-agents who'll vote for B for the wrong reason?); and 2) he's giving it not b/c Bernie is also a Putin shill but b/c he agrees w/the mainstream media (weird that, eh?) that Bernie can't win, thereby given Trump the election.
We, the People can prove Putin's Russia wrong--by voting Bernie en masse.
6
A lot of it isn’t that hard to tell if you take the time and effort to actually look at it. But people don’t do that, especially when that fake news tells them what they want to hear.
Tips for telling if something is fake:
Is it consistent? Does it make sense all the way through? The fine print must match the headline.
Does it try to lead the reader where they want to go?
Where did it come from? An outlet with actual journalistic integrity, or someplace you never heard of?
Is it online? Did it come from social media? Anyone can throw whatever lies they want up on YouTube. There’s nothing to stop them.
1
In order to rob Peter to pay Paul, Bernie Sanders would have to gut the Pentagon budget, if he were to have his way.
One can think of no greater gift to Putin.
5
In the first half of this opinion piece, Ms. Goldberg continues to sow doubt about Bernie's viability as the Democratic nominee for President. Reference her previous piece wherein she wholeheartedly endorsed Elizabeth Warren. Yet of the numerous polls since the beginning of the campaign season, Bernie Sanders beats Donald Trump handily and Elizabeth Warren did not or, if it showed she beat Trump, it was within the margin of error for the polling. I just do not understand this jumping on the bandwagon of moderates and liberals to trash Bernie Sanders.
No one has seen a Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee. No one has seen his choice for Vice President. I have absolute confidence that Bernie can unite the Democratic Party and take a significant number of 2016 Trump voters. And unlike our last Democratic nominee for President, Bernie engenders genuine enthusiasm amongst his supporters and he is the most energetic campaigner I have ever seen in my life. He has all of the hallmarks of a winner. Liberal and moderate Democrats - stop picking on Bernie because he is not the candidate of your choice. It is time to unite now behind whomever becomes the nominee.
29
Talking about demagoguery "Unlike Trump, Sanders would not be a stooge for Russia" - Trump is known to call them friends but in reality he is not, ask his friend Xi. Russia never really benefited from any US president except for maybe Obama who invited Putin ro Syria and amatuerishly inserted US in Ukranian revolution and thusly provoked Putin to take Crimea and ignite civil war in Ukraine.
And actually NSA's O'brian may have a point - Sanders would be a preferred president for Putin - he maybe a weaker president with weaker economy and most importantly he might not continue Trump's anti North Stream 2 policy which is what Putin really wants.
It is hard to imagine Sanders' foregn policy - he is openly antiwar. So how he can remain loyal to globalist ideals of liberal demicracy exports which historically have been secured by regime-changing policies?
I understand Michelle's desire to see Bernie in the white house but the idea that he will be Putin's worse nightmare is an anti trumpian fantasy. Bernie may win the white house becuase he promises to bring social justice here, in US, period. Enough of this anti Putin rhetoric. Leave it to boomers.
2
Obama provokes Putin to take Crimea? Please! Putin has always wanted Crimea and that had nothing to do with Obama.
Re: "I still find it difficult to believe that Sanders can pull it off."
I think that was the problem in 2016, right? That the media repeatedly "predicted" what the electorate would do (and who the electorate is, for that matter.) The media was wrong then, and four years is a long time in demographic "turnover", new voters especially.
3
Without Comey and Wikileaks nobody pulls off anything. If Bernie has the benefit of both of those, perhaps he can win. By 70,000 votes.
1
I don't think Sanders can win the general election. Not only will Republicans pull the old S word out of the mothballs and label Sanders a Socialist, by the end of the campaign, they will have branded him a Bolshevik. Such is the Republican M.O. I know it isn't realistic but I say, draft Adam Schiff.
Another thought: We're lucky that JFK was president during the Cuban missile crisis and not Donald Trump. Otherwise, we would all be speaking Russian today.
4
@Whole Grains Obama was a Socialist too! My point is that they are going to say all kinds of insane things no matter what. Younger people don’t care. I’m 50 and I don’t care either. I think the 70 year old and older citizens (except for Dick Van Dyke, who at 90+ endorsed Sanders) have this red scare mentality. That was over a half century ago! The word socialism polls more favorably than capitalism with younger folks.
1
It's much simpler than this article makes it appear. Tear down the other Democrats to give Bernie an artificial boost, but once he has the nomination, turn 180 degrees overnight, and start attacking Sanders, to make absolutely sure Trump wins.
2
Please tell Biden that polls are worthless, when he ran on polls showing him beating Trump and saying Obama every other word.
The polls showed Hilary beating Trump by three percent which is exactly what happened, except Hilary forget to campaign in the battleground states. The polls showed Bernie beating Trump by a larger margin and maybe he would have won.
No one is doing better in the polls than Sanders right now against Trump. I'm not sure why you are saying IF Sanders gets the nomination, the moderates are fractioning that vote and none of them is strong or likable. You don't know who suburban housewifes will vote for. On the other hand, I will give you that you make as much sense as the pundits on Cable news.
7
Unfortunately we have arrived at a moment where Bloomberg is paying social influencers $2,500 a month to say nice things about him. Please keep this is mind when we read other comments!
Now as far as Russian influencing the election... I have yet to see any evidence or substantive description as to precisely what this means. Is it state sponsored interference? Is it Facebook posts with misinformation? A few teen hackers? Maybe they are attacking us and undermining our democracy with mean tweets!
Who knows if these intelligence reports are even true?
Assuming they are even correct, what are we to do with this information? You seriously think the Kremlin has better insight into our elections than our own woefully inadequate expert political pundits on TV?
2
The ultimate irony would be if a Bernie victory inspired a revolution in Russian, a solid democratic socialist revolution. We can hope.
24
@sherry IMAGINE! What a vision.
Bernie/BlueNominee 2020
The Russian autocrat doesn't support Bernie Sanders in any politically authentic sense. He supports Bernie's primary candidacy because he believes that Sanders is the perfect foil for the Trump general election campaign. Putin may be right about that.
1
Ms. Goldberg -- Don't you get it? Putin isn't for Sanders to be president. He's for Sanders to be the Democratic nominee. An easy win for Trump. And Putin.
5
How is it an easy win for Trump when Sanders is already polling ahead of him in 2 of the 3 key swing states that decided the 2016 election?
8
It’s not. But Putin bought in to what the moderates are saying.
I think Michelle Goldberg writing this to counter some of the anti-Sanders hysteria regarding Putin is admirable.
Having said that, yes it's obvious that Putin doesn't actually want Sanders to become President, if he's trying to help him become the nominee it's because he thinks that having him as the Democratic candidate will help Trump win, and it's Trump he wants as President.
In doing this Putin is just buying the same propaganda as so many Republicans that says that Sanders can't win an election.
They also didn't think he could win the nomination however, and they're finding out how wrong they were about that, and going off in hysterical panics as a result. I was going to say "near-hysterical" but honestly some of what I've seen qualifies as actual hysteria.
There are several ironic outcomes worth noting right now, one being that Michael Bloomberg, who associates revealed didn't actually want to win but just to stop Sanders, has almost certainly accomplished the exact opposite, splitting the moderate vote and enabling Sanders to amass a lead that even Bloomberg now cautions might be too big to stop.
If Putin helps Sanders because he's bought the talking points that he'd be easier to beat than the more centrist Democrats and thus, Putin thinks, backing Sanders will get him Trump again as president, he may very likely fall victim to the same comically ironic unintended consequences that Bloomberg did, accomplishing exactly the opposite of what he wanted.
11
Let it be so! That’ll teach Putin not to meddle in our elections.
I really hope that the punditry will soon stop repeating the myth that Sanders has less of a chance to beat Trump in the general election, particularly when polls and the primaries so far show otherwise. People need to be able to vote for the policies they believe in or else how can we build a democracy that is “great again.”
30
@SK
Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention before, but the punditry's influence on our elections is significant and destructive. I have watched Elizabeth Warren get erased, Buttigieg get coverage beyond all merit, and Trump continue to get five times the air and ink of the opposition put together.
Meanwhile, our uneducated nation is easy prey for swiftboating, McCarthyesque slander of Bernie, and a big chunk of the electorate purchased wholesale by two billionaire candidates.
Given what hangs in the balance, it's nauseating and terrifying.
We need electoral reform and a tightly managed, very short campaign period with news blackouts, as in the UK.
@SK Punditry is terrified. They have been criticizing trump so badly they are scared if he is re elected he is sure to come after them personally with vengeance “bad things will happen to them” he has threatened.
So sad
Sanders, too, is taking the line that Putin won't be happy with him as president, but that's beside the point.
Putin won't be happy with any Democratic president; nor will he be unhappier with Sanders than with any of the others. Sanders has no special credentials as an opponent of Putin or a champion of democracy in the face of authoritarianism.
If Putin is trying to help Sanders at this point, he's doing so with the primary aim of corrupting and delegitimizing the US electoral process, and with the secondary aim of giving Trump the least formidable opponent in the general election.
Sanders's position is unique among Democratic candidates in one negative way. If he goes on to win the general election, he'll unhappily occupy the position that Trump occupies happily: that of an American president who is known to have been the beneficiary of Russian interference at some time during the election campaign; not a stooge of Russia, in his case, but a president who just might not have become president without the benefit of foreign meddling.
For Bernie Sanders, Pandora's box has sprung a leak. It's not his fault, but the evil of a small but ineradicable doubt has escaped and can never be shoved back in.
1
Firstly I want to say that I think all the NeverSanders people need to very quickly switch their support, to the only other candidate that now has a chance to defeat him in my opinion: Elizabeth Warren. Bernie or "Bernie-lite", take your pick. I think she's the only "moderate" with a shot at beating him now. Oh the delicious irony.
Really great work Michelle. Except you've let yourself and me down by calling Bernie a "socialist". If only George Orwell and Bernie both realised that the qualification before "socialist" in "democratic socialist", rendered their "socialism" not "socialism" at all. It's an oxymoron. They were/are social democrats.
I believe Bernie can win in November for three reasons: he's inspiring people from a range of backgrounds who seldom or never vote to vote for him; there are some Trump voters that will switch to vote for him; and there some people who won't vote for him that won't vote for Trump either.
I fear more, that to check Bernie's power, people will foolishly vote Republican downticket rather than centrist Democrat. It's really important that Democrats hold the House and win the Senate.
Just so you all know, if the US elects Trump over Sanders for president, Americans may safely assume that the vast majority of the citizens of the rest of democratic world, will be thoroughly disgusted in them and their country. Putin will rejoice however.
15
@GRW
I will join you in the disgust. If we cannot see the difference between Sanders and Trump, then we can't find our way out of a paper bag with the end open.
Pundits are saying that Putin is giving Bernie a boost since Putin believes that Trump can easily beat Bernie, but I'm not sure I buy that explanation. Buying Facebook ads is easily discovered, and Putin might as well stain one or two Democratic candidates that he really doesn't want to win the presidency.
1
It worked the last time though, didn’t it? I saw it work. Members of my own family kept sending those ridiculous Facebook ads to me. Anybody who can read above the fifth grade level and cared enough to actually look critically at them could tell they were lies, the headlines didn’t match the content. At all. Clearly they were written hoping that nobody would read beyond the headline & first paragraph. Then if you went back to the site they came from there was no other other news, just Trump propaganda. Yet even after I pointed all this out, my family member still believed it. And had the nerve to tell me I’m the one who was brainwashed.
It's clear that the Kremlin doesn't support Sanders, they think he's the most divisive candidate and he will give Trump an easy shot at reelection. But they should be careful what they wish for. The never-dems and never Trumpers are baked in, but it wouldn't take much for Sanders supporters to swamp Trump in the general.
1
Well, thank you Michelle, this is a welcome breath of sanity into the midst of the endless pinball punditry raining down on us.
What a concept: President Sanders, a moral, honest president who believes the government should serve the people.
A president against the military industrial complex...and all the lobbying networks (medical pharmaceutical) (big oil) (agri-chemical) that are malignant tumors on America.
So, what are going to be the toughest parts?
Can he get elected?
Only if the various factions allied against this monster Trump can come together. It's gonna take a miracle.
And I kinda think that miracle could happen if Sanders and Bloomberg could parlay and reach a consensus on what they could agree on
Can he govern?
That requires holding the coalition together and keeping lists of all the names that supported the election.
I worked on Carter's 1976 campaign and thought an FDR mid course correction would happen then.
But Jimmy was unable to govern. A lot of that was due to forces beyond his control, but he contributed to it with a poor lineup of appointees.
First pick in Sander's lineup should go to democratic candidates for president already introduced to the public by these primaries.
I'd like to see Warren on Supreme Court. And Pete as press secretary. Bloomberg in charge of expanding medicare.
21
@frankly 32
Agree with Warren for supreme court. Amy for AG. Booker for HUD. Stieglitz for Treasury. Inslee for EPA. Bloomberg for FEMA. Pete goes home and wins a few state races to learn the ropes - and perhaps a bit of humility.
Is it just me, or is this just patently obvious? Russian support for Sanders is support for Trump. Sanders on the Democrat side is the safest candidate to assure Trump reelection. Supporting Trump and Sanders is supporting Trump twice.
5
By banning fracking and declaring war on the US fossil fuel industry, Bernie would be giving Russia a monumental gift. Russia gets a massive amount of its resources and influence from exporting fossil fuels. Bernie would literally be handing them a massive victory for free.
6
@John Chenango Becoming the world leader in green energy is far more advantageous to the U.S. in both the short and long term than any strategy related to fossil fuels.
18
The fossil fuel industry is now an existential threat to our way of life. If we don’t act to drastically reduce or eliminate carbon emissions in the next decade, then we will not be able to prevent the worst scenarios from happening in the second half of this century. Temperature and sea level rise will threaten cities, states and entire regions. The effects are already causing chaos in places like Australia and California.
18
@John Chenango
Fracking has methane as its main byproduct. Methane is several times worse for climate change than carbon emissions.
So you either give a hoot about the environment or want to fantasize about Putin.
11
I don't think it's so much Putin supporting Sanders because he favours him as POTUS, it's more about Putin feeling that Sanders will be the easiest for Trump to beat, and therefore be re-elected.
Putin was KGB for 16 years, rising to Lt Colonel. He has been President of Russia for almost as long - you don't last that long and rise that high without knowing a thing or two.
Putin knows how to read people, he read Trump as a patsy and someone he could control so he put him in the White House.
He doesn't want Sanders, he wants Trump again. He wants to ensure Trump wins "fairly and honestly" again so Trump can cause even more problems for America, divide the Allies even more, divide America even more and provide opportunities and favours for Putin.
Putin is playing a long game.
4
Putin is diabolically clever and he always plays the long game. Whatever else he is, you have to give him credit for that.
1
@Smilodon7
People who know about these things because they've studied them all their lives say that Putin is a bit of a fool and that the Kremlin is more like the Keystone Cops.
@Shane Lynch Since Putin is playing a long game, it's obvious his true intentions won't be easily uncovered.
As far as Putin’s motivation in informing the world that he is supporting Bernie, a possible alternate explanation may be the need to create chaos, pure and simple.
By casting a shadow on Sanders, Putin creates a damaging narrative and triggers off yet another rash of attacks by the media, as well as more fear and uncertainty in the electorate. This causes Sanders to lose the primary, to be replaced by a weaker candidate and results in his boy Trump winning. Or so Putin thinks with the limited handle he has on the situation.
I’m old enough to remember when the Russians promised to destroy us from within, bragging that they needn’t fire a shot or drop a bomb. And this was before we had the internet.
They continue to create chaos. We need to keep our heads about us.
35
Interesting comment: “It’s certainly true that at times Sanders has been embarrassingly credulous about communist regimes.”
Upon returning from a trip to South America in 1985, Bernie Sanders was interviewed in TV. During the interview he called Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, "an impressive guy.” He also said that although Fidel Castro wasn't "perfect” Americans should keep in mind that "just because Ronald Reagan dislikes these people, doesn't mean that people in their own nations feel the same way."
That’s one of those odd things about those Marxist revolutionaries who Sanders admires but conveniently forgets to mention: once in power revolutionaries don’t seem to tolerate opinions which differ from their own. They’re also more inclined to jail and kill people who persist in objecting to their intolerance.
Senator Sanders is already uncompromising.
A President Sanders would be unbearable.
6
It is true that at least in some cases there are people who actually like these autocrats. He’s not wrong about that. It can make it very hard for these countries to overthrow these kinds of leaders when they still have followings.
Unlike Trump, Bernie is at least a functional adult, even if you don’t care for his politics.
1
Presidents don't have time for everything with which they might wish to be engaged. A President Sanders would spend the vast majority of his time on his version of the fundamental transformation of America. In the little time left over from that monumental effort, Russia and Putin would figure only slightly.
The formula for a Sanders win is entirely different from the one in 2018 when intrepid new House members flipped GOP districts to bring the Dems to a much needed majority during a Trump presidency.
To date, none of the new members of the House winning in
Districts in which Trump won in 2016 have endorsed Sanders.
All presidential candidates must realize that keeping the House and flipping the Senate are every bit as important as winning the presidency.
10
But the question is, how do we do that? There’s more than one way to get there. If Bernie can bring out a lot of new and discouraged voters, most will not split tickets. There’s a good chance he could bring along the Senate & the House
6
A person who is even moderately aware of the political scene could think up dozens of ads and tweets that would sin Bernie Sanders in key battleground states. Yet, Trump who cannot resist commenting on anything and everything has been oddly restrained about saying anything negative about Bernie Sanders. "Crazy Bernie !" sounds almost cute, liking saying 'naughty boy." Never mind what Putin thinks. He will help Trump in any way Trump asks. Putin is taking his cues from Trump and Trump is picking Bernie Sanders to run against. Trump's silence about Bernie needs only to be contrasted with his agitation about Joe Biden who he has hobbled and pretty much knocked out of the race. Trump's silence about Bernie speaks volumes. But never fear. The demolition of Bernie Sanders will start the day after he is nominated.
9
He will try. That doesn’t mean it will work.
2
@Smilodon7
I don't think it will work. Smears do not always succeed and sometimes backfire.
For a smear to succeed, it has to have at least a slight change of being believable. Sanders is nothing if not honest. He even commits the unpardonable sin of admitting mistakes. So, when you create a lie about him, the public can assess it in terms of "Does that sound like Bernie?" If not, they dismiss it.
This, unfortunately, will not be true for Warren who - for all her intelligence and ardor - has told a few whoppers. In a general election, smears will stick to her because she has embroidered her past.
She stopped teaching children because she didn't like it, not because she was kicked out for being pregnant. Her parents had a church wedding, not an elopement because the in-laws didn't want a mixed race daughter-in-law. Trivial stuff but makes her vulnerable to serious lies being believable.
Don't even start with her waffle on M4A. That lost her a lot of support and credibility. She's sweet and likeable, but she's toast.
I wish the media would demand concrete proof when intelligence agencies make incendiary partisan allegations.
Have we learned nothing from the Iraq War, and the Snowdon revelations? NOTHING?
For shame.
16
@Xoxarle So right.
I can’t say whether or not Putin would hate a Bernie presidency, but I can say that I sure would.
8
But Fidel Castro would love a President Sanders...well, because even though political prisoners are bad, at least Castro did some things that were smart.
3
Putin is only supporting him now, in the Primaries. But he’ll crush him in the General. So no, he won’t regret anything Michelle.
6
Stop romanticizing Bernie. You are helping Trump win. He is a fraud and huckster. Bernie tells his followers what they want to hear. All of his ideas are impractical. He panders to stay in power. Look at his lack of support for meaningful gun control to not alienate Vermonters.
He is weak on foreign policy and past support of communist revolutionaries will be twisted by Trump. Trump’s purge of essential foreign policy expertise has weakened American strength abroad. Do we really want a person who took his honeymoon in the USSR to run our foreign policy.
Dems need to play hardball because this guy will destroy the Democratic Party the way Trump destroyed the GOP. Why are they letting someone who isn’t even a member of their party run in their ticket? Bring back machine politics and party bosses.
10
How can anyone be so concerned about Bernie’s honeymoon but not care about Trump’s dealings with Russia?
1
Ironically, the Kremlin is now leaking that it is supporting Sander in order to discredit him.
.
Exactly the opposite of what happened in 2016, where they released the Access Hollywood tape to distract from news that the Kremlin was trying to get its favorite candidate elected.
3
Unlike Michelle Goldberg, the majority of astute Americans are not dupes, and see the pathetic flailings of the status quo trying mightily to sabotage Bernie Sanders presidential campaign by invoking the Russian strawdog. Please, if you would, Ms. Goldberg, tell us exactly what the Russians are doing to influence the American public, and please be specific.
26
Glad to see that you’re no longer scared of a Sanders presidency, Ms. Goldberg.
“Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw
115
“We are in this together. That my family has to care about your family. That your family cares about my family. “
-Bernie Sanders
That’s really all you have to know about the man.
That is the basis of social justice and peace.
Neither Trump or Putin.
Bernie 2020
218
@TM
Sounds a lot like what Jesus said. Too bad so-called evangelical "Christians" don't recognize it.
3
@TM
It's Old Testament and New Testament Judaism from Isaiah to Jesus.
1
Putin would hate anyone other than Trump. And Putin may still get his wish. Voters aren't victims.
5
Why? Is Putin not communist enough for Sanders?
3
@Socialist?
Putin is no communist, he is a corporate socialist just like all our corporations. That's why he's worth 200 billion dollars and is the richest guy in the world.
A Trump vs Sanders election may be our first European style election,neo-fascism vs social democracy. Why are liberals so scared of Sanders, don't they love to vacation in Europe. Making the US move to social democracy should be a no brainier for liberals. Like Joe Biden says, "Come on, man!"
58
@Jerry Harris We are scared because he will lose!
1
@Jerry Harris
Because they are scared that Americans will choose neo-fascism.
Bravo - a level-headed piece about Sanders in the Times!
22
Bernie will win despite the New York Times as Hillary lost despite the New York Times. If one can read this OpEd as one defending Bernie against illogical accusations, it will be in the right side of history.
75
@Blunt nyt were horribly wrong about the Iraq war. They were horribly wrong about Hillary winning. This time around I have some faith in them only because they endorsed Liz Warren whom we love. But they are horribly wrong about Bernie, back in 2016 and now again in 2020. They somehow misread what our nation truly wants, that’s why they didn’t see Trump’s winning in 2016 nor his steadfast popularity amongst his voter base.
What’s the word for those who keep predicting wrong...unreliable.
2
Who really cares what Putin might prefer? Vladimir is pretty full of himself right now, but, it will not last forever. He, like others in Russia, will wind up in relative obscurity in a snug dacha.
5
Russia isn't trying to help Sanders because Putin knows Sanders would not be friendly or helpful to him like his puppet Trump is. But if Putin knows anything at all about the mood in the U.S. (and I assure you he does) he knows Sanders can beat Trump, so what does he do?
Well he begins by "leaking" that he prefers Sanders. That will get all the Sanders opposition jumping up and down, and using this to discredit Sanders. If this doesn't de-rail Bernie (and it won't), then phase 2 comes into play whereby if Sanders actually does beat Trump, it gives Trump the ability to claim the election was tainted by Russian interference and is therefore invalid, so Trump refuses to accept the results and fights to stay in the WH. In both of these scenarios there is much confusion and turmoil, so no matter what happens, Putin wins. And bear in mind that the Russians don't actually have to do ANYTHING beyond float these "leaks" to have this effect.
Unfortunately there is a significant portion of the Sanders opposition that will latch onto this disinformation and try to use it to stop him. But before they accuse Bernie of using Russian help, they need to stop and realize that it's they themselves that are furthering Putin's cause.
29
It's all very simple, you Republicans: a vote for Trump is a vote for Putin.
67
Well you pays your money and you take your options. Why is Putin in this conversation?
How so - Bernie is an old fashioned Communist-Socialist! Putin would quickly eat the Bern's lunch.
3
Show me where in Sanders platform he proposes to nationalize auto production.
Or admit you throw labels around liberally without knowing their true meaning.
Social democracy is about governing for the wider public interest, not the narrow corporate and oligarch interest.
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@Xoxarle - Every commie says what you say. Every commie says what The Bern says. The Bern is a commie! But The Bern lives well in his three dacha, just like all the commies who cheated and killed and sent people to the gulag!
1
Trump has a plus popularity rating at the moment. If the polls are accurate, roughly half the country approves of this lunatic. This is not a Russian problem and it's not a Putin problem. It's an American problem. Blame a few St. Petersburg trolls for our national neurosis if it makes you feel better, but our troubles are made right here, in the good ol' USA. We're a bloody mess.
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Why would he? An incompetent, lip-service pseudo-socialist. Disaster for the US, good news for Putin.
6
Dare to believe Michelle
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If Bernie can pull off the big one, that means the rest of the slate might make it too.
Can you imagine Putin’s reaction if we take the White House, House and Senate.
Not that big an “if” any more.
Icing on the cake would be Trump spending some time bunking with Harvey.
Ah, to dream, to dream.
36
Long before that happens, he will be in a nursing home somewhere. Something is wrong with the man, folks. I can’t believe more people haven’t noticed his decline. If he gets re-elected, he will never serve a full term. There’s a point where this can’t be hidden anymore.
10
I love the word "invidious." It rolls off the tongue like velvet wine. What a magically perfect word choice. Thank you.
@Andy
Recent trip to Colorado or Oregon? Washington? California?
In any event, the next time you spark up, dig "vitiate." It will fill you with wonder!
So far, people have been warning the Bernie voters of all the Marxist and other skeletons in his closet (like his essay opining that women fantasize about being gang-raped, validating the classic rapist's excuse: "She wanted it as much as I did" -- look it up on Snopes).
The Trump/Russia machine is holding all his unappealing history in abeyance, waiting for him to get nominated before they weaponize it all and unload on him.
But what nobody seems to have noted yet is that Bernie's a classic specimen of a type that Trump very successfully demonized in the 2016 election, not only in campaigning against Hillary but first in his decimation of the field of candidates in the Republican primaries.
Bernie is a career politician.
Before he started running for office in Vermont, he had no success to speak of in the real workaday world. He bought cheap farmland in Vermont like a lot of hippies at the time but didn't make a go of farming. Then he tried his hand at carpentry. Then he tried his hand at journalism. Then he finally raised his hand at a meeting of socialists looking for a volunteer to run for local office. And the rest, as they say, is history.
If you don't think that's going to be part of the attack on TV, radio and social media every day until the election if Bernie's the nominee, you must've paid no attention to the 2016 election campaign.
Think it over.
7
Trump was a successful businessman. How is that working out for us with him in the Oval Office?
Sanders popularity stems from a lifetime arguing for causes he believes in, even when they were unpopular. This has helped propel him to frontrunner status in the race. Critique his platform, that’s what this process is about. But don’t critique him on attributes that aren’t disqualifying for the position.
2
@GFE
Yeah, that attack is going to be super effective coming from Trump, who inherited money and lost it, declaring bankruptcy several times.
Let's also not forget his three houses. That 900 sqft apartment in DC and fishing shack in boonies of VT really show Trump and Bloomberg how the stylish rich *really* live.
@Xoxarle
Trump wasn't a successful businessman. He was a dunce who's old man gave him over $400 million and still he tanked his businesses and had to be bailed out by the Russians. That's what Putin has on him: he laundered money for mobbed-up Russian oligarchs and Vlad knows all of them personally.
1
Sanders loves strong leaders who know best what their people should want and keep the populous in their place.
Sounds like a match made in heaven.
1
This appears to be a bald attempt at sowing discord in the U.S. electorate, doesn't it?
Pushing folks further apart by creating an artificially incendiary narrative, - Us vs. Them.
Gosh, it has nothing to do with Bernie at all.
6
Of course not. But you know a lot of people will fall for it. People don’t think things through, they just go with whatever they feel.
1
"Under Trump, the U.S. has abandoned the pretense of backing democracy and human rights..."
Correct - but there's a glaring exception 90 miles south of Florida: in the name of 'human rights' Trump has reinstated a 60 year-old failed cold war strategy (which actually helps the regime to hang on to power) to make life so miserable for ordinary Cubans as to provoke a violent uprising.
5
Sure. It gives them an outside enemy to point the finger at.
There is no factual basis for this argument. Bernie would polarize the American electorate and likely advance an isolationist, destabilizing foreign policy. Both would be to Putin's advantage.
4
Lol! The electorate is already polarized.
He sure would (Putin) ; Bernie is a socialist ala Leon Trotsky. It didn't go too well for him though . He might not be Putin's stooge ;but he is an unknown in the sense he may change . Bernie is not what you see is what you get ; his policies are not as through as Warren's . Look at Fidel Castro ; and what happened in Cuba , so I disagree with you .
3
It is likely - we just don't know for certain, do we - Putin has no love for either Trump or Sanders but *supporting* any controversial figure is a sure way to sow the seed of discord in the U.S..
It is likely that Sanders might be a lot tougher to Russia than Trump but the former is also opinionated to a certain segment of America. For all we know, he sees the billionaires as the enemies of the people, During the 2016 campaign, he used to wail against the millionaires as well. Some people joke that he drops it this time around because he got outed being one himself.
When he picks a segment of the population, no matter how small, for vilification, that sets off the alarm. Maybe this is the real problem some moderates have with him. Do some billionaires (and millionaires) deserve it? Probably. But not all of them. There are good people among them. Just as there are indeed con men and women knowing the loopholes to game the welfare system. But the Democrats hate how the Republicans branding all welfare recipients *welfare queens* because many recipients need and deserve assistance.
So Putin boosting Bernie is really irrelevant except both Bernie and Trump can cause major internal conflict. Ironically, had President Obama been able to run and win for the third time, Putin would not have *supported* him despite what Mitch McConnell's hatred of Mr Obama. Why? Because a vast majority of Americans still love Mr Obama.
1
Get a grip. He’s talking about a few percentage points if tax increases on the wealthy, not taking everything they have leaving them paupers. Was Eisenhower a socialist? Taxes on the wealthy were higher during his administration than anything Bernie is suggesting, yet we thrived and we had money to do stuff, like build highways.
1
@Smilodon7
I am afraid you have confused Bernie with President Obama.
I have voted for Mr Obama twice and will again if not the 22nd. I had no problem with him asking for infrastructure rebuilt in the face of an obstructionist Republican Congress.
Bernie is not about asking people for a fair share of contribution for everyone. You know Bernie's programs are not possible even when you confiscate all the billionaires' unprotected monies. With Medicare for All and the decimation of all insurance companies, a lot of people will need to find work. Do you know healthcare is one of the major employment driver in this country? Bernie may have heart but as the saying goes: the road to hell is paved with good intention.
The Republicans are evil but the Dems are not too bright. People said, "but the Congress will reign Bernie in if he becomes the POTUS." The same argument when they voted for Trump. See what that got us.
People need to heed to Mr Obama's: Governing is messy and don't be a purist. And extreme progressives like Bernie just ignore both
Trump is not alone in wanting Sanders to win the nomination. Besides not revealing his full income tax returns, Sanders has never accounted for all of his substantial campaign funds, much of it coming from Republican and overseas sources. Like Trump, Putin would love to see this phony so-called ‘Socialist’ run on the Democratic ticket.
3
This is largely accurate. Old-style communists dislike social democrats more than anyone. But in the short term Putin wants chaos and Sanders helps that.
1
Bernie is espousing policy that has worked in all the Nordic states for over 50 years. These governments are all true democracy's (unlike ours) and they are all capitalist market economies. They are also the most educated,healthiest, and happiest people in the world. That could be us if you just don't buy in to the red baiting propaganda...most people don't anymore that's why Bernie's winning ....Bernie the real populist will beat the sham populist with the fake tan...
92
The only reason Putin is attempting to engineer Sanders' nomination is the same reason that Trump is...they want Trump to be reelected and think that Sanders self-assigned moniker of socialist is a good foil. Trump and the republicans, with Putin's help, will scream Socialism = Communism.
1
Bernie bros are a worrying aspect of the Sanders candidacy - strident, fanatical, intolerant, abusive, and willing to use any methods to defeat rivals.
6
Sanders does not have a monopoly on supporters who post rude or abusive comments, and his campaign doesn’t welcome them.
This is just a tired meme to delegitimization his candidacy and avoid discussing the issues that matter to the majority.
6
An odd position for Bernie to be in yes? He's a Bolshevik through and through. Sanders loves central control and government mandates. Oh sure, he prefers the softer method of government enforcement - via the bureaucrat's pen and not the revolutionary's rifle. Bernie however is an authoritarian at heart so it seems logical that he and Putin should be best buds. Ergo, I really don't believe Bernie at all when he claims he's at odds with Putin - just as I don't believe any of Bernie's empty promises of 'free stuff' for all.
3
I have to laugh when I read that some pundits and Russians "evidently believe, just as many American pundits do, that Sanders would be Trump’s weakest opponent."
Isn't that what many Democrats and others thought about Trump as Clinton's opponent? That he was the most beatable?
Didn't work out that way did it...
13
Whoa. This Horse Race ain’t over. And you’re missing the MOST important facet of Sanders as the Democratic Nominee. Ohio has historically been the absolute Key to a GOP Victory. Guess what? Florida is now the same, for Democrats. Is Bernie is on the Ballot, Florida is LOST. The Cuban-American Community and their allies will mount a scorched earth campaign, and NO Democrat in that State will be exempt.
There is absolutely NO recovery from losing Florida, for Democrats. Wake up and smell the Cuban Coffee and the real swamps.
7
A heck of a lot of a Puerto Rican’s are there. And they are not happy with Trump’s treatment of them.
1
@Phyliss Dalmatian - Floridian Cubans vote for Republican candidate as many are offspring of the wealthy elite that were driven from Cuba when Castro came to power (e.g. Marco Rubio). Although in GOP dominated Cuban exiles, Sanders statement was anathema to their campaign of demonizing Castro's policy writ large, many Hispanic voters in the rest of the country appreciated his genuine truth telling in analyzing the pros and cons of foreign countries in an attempt to uplift America's cooperation rather than conflict in the world. Sanders isn't pandering to one small group of voters in order to gain their votes. Rather he sets his agenda based on policies that he believes in which attracts his loyalists. Deal with it haters.
1
Sanders has the promise of the last Democrat to hold the White House running foreign policy by this stated logic — Jimmy Carter. His policies were successful in brokering peace between Israel and Egypt and an unmitigated disaster toward the downfall of the Shah in Iran as well as condoning Soviet expansion into Afghanistan...
"Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset."
What do you mean, if he were?
You don't mean to suggest that he is unconscious, do you?
It's important to maintain the distinction between treason, dementia, and unconsciousness.
Of course, it's false to suggest that Bernie Sanders is as reckless of American interests as Trump. Nevertheless, he has plenty of other liabilities as a candidate--and a prospective president.
1
Ironically, and in contradistinction to many establishment Democrats' statements—
Bernie Sanders would be a fearsome opponent for Trump, appealing directly to many of the discontent working class that made possible Trump prevailing in the Electoral College in 2016.
Trump said as much in the surreptitious recording at a 2018 donor dinner recently turned over by Parnas.
Bernie would trounce Trump. [He also would have trounced him in 2016.]
23
Nobody knows how Sanders would fare against Trump. Nobody. There are factors in his favor and factors against.
This certitude depresses me. I see it everywhere. Professional pundits don’t know, I don’t know, you don’t know. Remember when the ESPN tape was the final nail in Trumps coffin?
Either candidate could win or lose based on factors within their control of factors outside of it.
7
He’s not wrong though. Bernie would appeal to many of the same disaffected lower middle class voters who Trump appealed to. Trump didn’t win by much. Bernie only needs to peel off a few to win.
3
I meant to post my reply to someone convinced Sanders couldn’t win.
I care nothing about Putin or Trump or any demagogues. Bernie Sanders cares nothing about them either.
What Bernie Sanders cares about are the young people struggling with making a living and the out of sight health insurance and college tuition. And the Black and Latino communities that struggle everyday against racism. And the White rural folks that struggle with lost jobs in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.
That's what's on Bernie s mind, the people.
1087
@cherrylog754 Maybe you can explain why, he then protected Russia, not once, not twice, but 4 times he sided with Putin and friends instead of the American people when it comes security both internationally and domestically. In fact, he was one of the only two people in the entire Congress who voted AGAINST sanctioning Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election.
If the "people are on Bernie's mind," why does he have only 3 laws to his name in 38 years? Bernie doesn't care for the people, if he did, he wouldn't have voted against the Brady Bill or the Sandy Hook Bill. Those bills truly effected people.
If Bernie "cared" about he people he would have voted for Hillarycare and we wouldn't be in this mess now. Bernie's mind is on Bernie. That's where it has always been, and that's where it is now.
"Bernie's for the people." 3 laws in 38 years. That shows real caring. You have got to be kidding me.
52
@cherrylog754, he may sincerely care. Maybe.
but his policies will, of course, have unintended consequences. Mao, Castro, Lenin, and Hugo Chavez all spouted positive intentions. Yet, their policies were disastrous for human rights and quality of life.
And, yes, Bernie has been a longtime vocal supporter of the Soviet system, Castro's brutal regime, and Hugo Chavez' disastrous policies.
16
@Carol-Ann
Good comment. Add to your list that Bernie voted against the Magnitsky Act, which is shocking for a man who claims to be concerned about corrupt oligarchs. Maybe Russian oligarchs are fine in his world.
18
"In this project, Trump couldn’t better serve Putin’s interests if he were a conscious Russian asset."
What's left unsaid it the strong possibilitly that he is indeed a conscious Russian asset--Either that, or he's so deep in debt that he might as well be an asset.
It's semantics, actually. The point is that on policy as well as politics, Trump always manages to pursue the moves that Putin craves himself.
NATO? Get rid of it, check! Ukraine? Weaken the country with a scandal, and withhold weapons to give the Russians the edge in batte, check!
Constantly tell Americans that Russian never meddled in this election? Check!
Human rights abuses? Not to worry, Trump doesn't care either. Check!
In fact, I'm hard pressed to find any examples where Trump overtly challenges the reining narrative of Moscow
Bernie Sanders may have traveled to Moscow following his wedding, but that doesn't make him an asset. Trump knows his place, and the Russians want to tkeep it that way.
27
He gave Putin and Assad a whopping big present by betraying the Kurds.
@ChristineMcM
Yes, and Trump also traveled to Russia for his beauty contest and possibly to take a Golden Shower.
The number one way to get Putin on his knees is to go after his oligarch buddies' assets in Western Europe.
I can't think of one person who would be more happy to do this, and in a non-destructive way (unlike 45) while cooperating and if necessary putting pressure on our allies than President Sanders.
Additionally, Bernie in a large part represents ordinary people organising democratically for their own best interests. That is something that Putin wouldn't like one bit if Bernie started to inspire some Russian citizens to take action against their own corrupt, autocratic government.
522
@Ryan Butler "go after his oligarch buddies' assets in Western Europe."
Europe is already dependent for survival on Russian natural gas. Trump tried to change that, without success, since Europeans are worried that a green new dealer would come at some point in his place.
Bernie would make Europe even more dependent on Russia, since Bernie would crown Putin as the energy producer number one. Instead of the US.
So Europe would never take action against Russia, when Putin could turn the tap on the pipeline...
11
@Ryan Butler
"if Bernie Sanders becomes president"... this is the fatal flaw in Michelle Goldberg's reasoning... Bernie Sanders isn't going to become president, he's going to get beat by Trump in a landslide. Don't make the mistake of nominating Bernie unless you want to see Trump stay in the White House for several more years. It's incredible how many people have taken their eye off the ball in the last few months. Bloomberg should get his game together, if he can't, he should drop out and put his money behind Biden.
5
@Ryan Butler
Like it or not.. those assets are beyond the reach of EU nations, much less the US.
You seem to think we are dealing with two dimensional petty crooks here. You could not be more wrong. These guys are extremely sophisticated, devious, and diabolical in how they protect their assets, and they have the entire Russian intelligence apparatus (which puts US intelligence to shame by comparison) covering their front, back, and sides.
10