Alternately:
Biden has a long history of stating his willingness to cut social security. The current video in question (which, to be clear, was not altered, just cut to the relevant portion) is only one of many examples.
11 Likes
Biden used the word “doctored” incorrectly. The Sanders people edited a video to make Biden look like he says the opposite of what he actually said. I think on balance the Sanders people are worse here, regardless of who looks worse.
I love Bernie, but he might not be surrounding himself with the best advisors.
I think using a Sanders speechwriter as a source on this is problematic; for all we know, Sirota is the guy who authorized the editing of this Biden clip to make it look like he is saying the opposite of what he actually says.
1 Like
No, they trimmed the bit at the end where Biden spouted neoliberal gibberish buzzwords (“job creators”) and claimed that, although he viewed alterations to Social Security as necessary, he would try to ensure that it wasn’t abolished entirely.
There is both C-SPAN video footage and Congressional Transcript attesting to Biden’s words.
Are there any other candidate’s speechwriters that you would like to preemptively disqualify from political discussion, or is it just the Sanders one?
7 Likes
Right now just Sirota, who we’ve talked about on BB before. He’s great at what he does, which is political hatcheteering – usually on the side of people I support – but he has no scruples to speak of. He’s probably the source of the intentional decontextualization on the first story too. The point is you don’t fact-check someone’s propaganda by asking the propagandist for more examples.
W/r to Biden, there are a lot of things you can accuse him of, and he’s taken many sides on many positions over his decades in office, but if he really wanted to end SS we could find more credible evidence for it than campaign statements from 25 years ago and edited video making it look like sarcastic statements (Politico’s interpretation) are things he really believes.
3 Likes
Biden’s real, and unforgivable, crime is of course that he’s the current front-runner in the Democratic primaries, instead of Sanders. This is unacceptable (if for no other reason, then because it casts doubt on the idea that there’s a huge untapped reserve of leftist voters who are totally going to be energized by Sanders and lead to a complete triumph of the left), so reasons have to be found, or invented, why he shouldn’t be ahead.
1 Like
To be fair, the primaries are exactly the right time to highlight the best aspects of your own candidate and the worst aspects of the opposition. Attacking Biden for his positions is completely fair game (and easy). However, when you get to the point where you are blowing stuff way beyond the point of reality, it starts smelling like desperation. Sanders has to be careful: his single biggest asset has been his personal integrity and credibility; that is currently under attack by (some) Warren supporters and the media. The route to surviving that attack is not for your campaign to get into nasty fights with other candidates, especially ones like this one where the fact-checking goes against you. Sirota – my side’s answer to Brietbart – could well undermine his boss.
1 Like
6 Likes
NYT, dithering and trying to split the difference as usual. Take a stand, you cowards.
6 Likes
I know, let’s just pick the two wimmens! That’s right, both of them. Only total dickheads would blame us for that!
This program was brought to you by: Virtue SignalTM – for all your upstanding-sounding messaging needs!
12 Likes
While we’re at it:
10 Likes
Here’s some relevant history for the day:
10 Likes
I came to a totally different conclusion. To me it reads as:
- Klobuchar is out favourite candidate
- We know our favourite candidate isn’t going to win and don’t want to remain mute on the people who might win
It definitely seems a little dumb, but I took it as an endorsement of Warren.
5 Likes
With their history, this could end up being his strongest anti-endorsement yet
9 Likes
This is so completely out of character for Clinton that my first reaction was that one of the anti-Sanders CNN operatives that some people on this thread insist exist is putting their own spin on something. If I’m wrong, and Clinton actually said this, then it is enormously disappointing.
Why wouldn’t an ultra-wealthy member of (and enactor of policies benefiting) the neoliberal elite attack a candidate who basically hammers home the point every chance he gets that our main problem is the neoliberal elite?
9 Likes
Apparently first reported in the Hollywood Reporter (concerning a documentary in which she says this), not CNN.
4 Likes
Because (a) she is a very loyal party member, and that means supporting the candidate without reservation, and (b) because she detests Trump.
However, looking at the link @Gyrofrog provided, the recent discussion of possible misogyny in the Sanders camp seems to have triggered some flashbacks to the 2016 campaign, and I can perhaps see her saying this in the shadow of those memories.
2 Likes
Looks like Pete’s gotten his “please clap” moment.
Also I’m hardly surprised that Hillary has it in for Sanders. He dared to run in the primary where she was supposed to be the Anointed One, and she’s spent the past 4 years complaining about him promising people free ponies while she was just out there trying to run a decent campaign. I obviously voted for her in the general, but I kind of stopped paying attention to her policy positions after she started deploying Republican talking points about Bernie wanting to “destroy the ACA” and “take away your healthcare” by pushing for M4A. 
It’s also all well and good to assume that she’s such a good and loyal party member that she’d naturally endorse the winner of the primary, but she also conveniently didn’t have to be called on that last time around, and I seem to recall that literally nothing Sanders ever did after conceding was considered “good enough” by the entire Democratic establishment.
13 Likes
“Hillary C., please return to the hotel bar for a left-behind item. Ms. Hillary C, please return to the hotel bar for a left behind item.”
5 Likes
