World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[Sarge]

Absolutely. The care my Dad receives when he goes to the VA is terrible.

[BoringSupreez]

Normally I hate to link to Huffington Post articles, but Sanders really stuck his foot in his mouth here.

"When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto," Sanders concluded. "You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car. And I believe that as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear, we will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal justice system."

[Blu]

Yep, that answer was a bit foot in mouth. Was certainly hoping for more empathy, and less generalization. He was definitely lacking. Needs to come out and clarify his position.

[Sarge]

Yeah, Sanders is wrong on that. I should know, growing up in Mississippi, in a family that barely got by. And while it's not the hellhole everyone seems to think it is, my home state also has a lot of poverty, and it afflicts black and white alike.

Maybe it's like that in his home state. Somehow I doubt it, though.

(As a clarification, though, my family was extraordinarily blessed, despite not having much money. It took a lot of hard work to get there, and some incredibly creative budgeting from my parents.)

[ElkinFencer10]

In fairness, he was quoting a statement from a BLM speech to frame his response to a question. He definitely agreed with the point being made (then again, so do I), but he was quoting someone else.

[Blu]

We had a record turnout in Michigan. Was something pretty awesome to see unfold on Tuesday night. What are peoples thoughts who watched the debate on Wednesday?

[mjmjr25]

Bernie scares me in the national defense regard - I appreciate the idea many don't like the idea of being "the world's policeman", but one must also understand someone will fill that void - i'd rather it be the US than Russia or China. Once you cut that military budget and disengage from a lot of these arenas - you no longer get to opine, or at least opine with actual merit, when things start happening that you don't like or agree with.

Our European allies who's populaces are quick to bash everything that is American will have to make a decision. Increase their own military budgets DRASTICALLY, or learn Russian/Mandarin in the next 30-50 years. #realtalk

I don't necessarily have a problem with only being able to defend the country you are running.

Bernie has always struck me as hyper, reactive, and a bit of a short-picture guy. Those are generally ok as a congressman or even a senator from a small state - I'd have concerns about those traits as "leader of the free world".

Hilary Clinton is a terrible human being who cares about Hilary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and sometimes her friends. Her attempts to show compassion are cringe-worthy. Full stop.

There were a few times Bernie was assertive with her, like on the Goldman Sachs stuff. There were other times he was soft and he shouldn't have been. At one point they played a video of a woman Hilary lied to (repeatedly) regarding the Benghazi incident - it was a powerful moment; the moderator said, "Yes or no, did you lie to her." She spun and spun and ultimately said she didn't lie after a 3 minute "here's technically why it wasn't a lie". Bernie should have responded, "I can answer that for you. Yes, she lied." It would have been powerful and put her back on the defensive - instead he was protective of her and it was almost as if he was providing her cover for when they have to "unite" behind the banner of liberalism.

Overall, I tend to like Bernie more than the other major candidates. I haven't voted democrat in 12 years, but i'm leaning toward Bernie right now.

All of this is of course secular temporal talk, which I can view rationally and strategically, but I truly don't care, either.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Hilary Clinton is a terrible human being who cares about Hilary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and sometimes her friends. Her attempts to show compassion are cringe-worthy. Full stop.

Sadly, she is also the only adult running in the election, and she is the only one with nuanced well-developed positions on a variety of issues. (As a democrat, I really wish we had a more competitive field this year, and I will likely end up voting against someone rather than voting for a candidate I really like... )

[Blu]

I totally agree, Foreign Policy is one issue where people are critical of Bernie. But is he on the right side of history that 60+ years of interventionist policy hasn't helped our world image and credibility? I think so.

That's why I think Hillary is still quite a bit of a warhawk, and where Bernie is more aligned with Bernie. I believe the Clinton's foundations support from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc, are shady, and she and allowed Honduras to deteriorate, which Bernie didn't hit her on. She allowed Middle Eastern regimes to buy chemical and biological agents. The signs are really there that she'll be more involved in a military show-of-force foreign policy.

I think Sanders should have been more clear about his remarks on Castro. While he denounces the crimes Castro committed, he can also say that while also saying we shouldn't be toppling governments of sovereign nations. He's got to be more clear about that. It was clear we really did a lot of harm in Central and Latin America relations by fighting wars of proxy against them. Grenada and the Falklands being key exceptions of intervention that considerably helped a sovereign nation/territories.

I wonder how far Hillary will try to paint Bernie red while dodging that she's a hypocrite. She simply can't while taking MILLIONS into the Clinton Foundation by these countries. This is where Bernie is consistent, she is constantly lining her pockets while failing to be transparent about it.

Sources:

http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clintons ... es-1949653

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/po ... ate-miami/

[mjmjr25]

she is the only one with nuanced well-developed positions on a variety of issues.

I dunno - I mean, she can spin her immigration views to be more liberal than Sanders, and more conservative than Trump. After trying to pander to the latino crowd more than Bernie, she was asked how her support of a wall on the border is any different than Trump's proposal of a wall on the border, her response: "He's talking about a very tall wall, right? A beautiful tall wall, the most beautiful tall wall, better than the Great Wall of China . . ." People laughed because it poked fun at Trump...but let's look at the answer - the answer is...there really isn't a difference. You supported a wall, you voted to fund a wall and increase patrols, and now today you pander and we need to get better at uniting families and stop putting up walls.

I don't deny she's a politician through and through - I don't know that any of her positions are well-developed though. I think she's like most life-long politicians and can bend her views to suit the current environment. As Bernie accurately points out - you must be saying something behind those closed doors - no one I am vehemently opposed to pays me $225K to come be hostile to them.