Bernie Sanders – inliberty.org

Return Fire

Punching Back at the State-run Media

Last Tuesday, in a press interview at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Republican Party presidential candidate (and likely nominee) Donald Trump laid away the state-run media as the poseurs they are. (And please, let’s dispense forever with the notion of “mainstream media” – there’s nothing mainstream as to where the media sits on the American political spectrum.)

For decades, particularly the last two presidential contests and the prior two Republican administrations, conservatives and traditional Republican Party members have begged GOP leadership to defend themselves; return fire to the corrupt media.

At this “presser,” Donald called out one reporter as “sleazy,” and proceeded to knock down one accusation after another.

Unlike other Republican presidential candidates in recent primary seasons, Trump does not politely duck and cover under media pressure. He meets it head-on. There’s no Karl Rove slithering here; Donald is not afraid of the media, nor does he think he owes them explanations. If anything, he knows he builds their market share.

Confronting media accusations over his fundraiser for American military veterans, held during a skipped debate in Iowa earlier this year, he laid out the details of how much he collected and how much went where of the $5.6 million donated so far.

The unreported contrast is what Mr. Trump gives to veterans’ groups vs. what Mrs. Clinton and Senator Sanders give. This was not mentioned to any appreciable degree by the press in their coverage after the event at Trump Tower. The difference in charitable activity is so stark, in the interest of protecting their own, it went largely unreported. The state-run media simply whined at what they perceived was an unfair attack on them by Donald Trump. (The press should know by now that if it’s foolish enough to set a match to Donald’s tent, he will torch theirs with a flamethrower.)

Donald Trump’s personal contribution and those he solicited at his veterans’ charity event back in January went 100% to the veterans’ groups chosen for funding. Zero percent was eaten up by administrative cost; Trump covered that himself.

By contrast, the Clinton Foundation appears to give 0% of its vast wealth to veterans’ groups, as far as is known. (This may change to delay the inevitable, adverse exposure.) Broadly, however, the family’s money-laundering operation, known as the Clinton Foundation, donates roughly 10% of its funding to charitable causes, versus 90% that goes to “administration” (Bill & Hillary’s expenses, i.e., living, travel, etc.)

The Bernie Sanders Campaign has not stepped forward to offer an accounting of his contributions to charities (or veterans’ groups). Of course, ardent socialists, like most activists on the Left, do not support charities that hold traditional values, such as veterans’ organizations. The objective of Socialism is to create more need, not lessen it; they thrive on increasing dependency not alleviating it. So their lack of charitable conscience is true to form. They believe in government redistribution of wealth, not the selfless act of personal “giving.”

Donald Trump will make many more converts after his “return fire” last week. Now if the media chooses to scrutinize Hillary’s cash flow, like raking in $21 million in speaking fees in just two years, the playing field could be leveled. Until then, Trump should continue to question the media’s integrity, and gather more support.

Thankfully, he won’t listen to RNC or Romney advisors telling him to back off. And it’s refreshing to see a Republican who understands why it’s the “state-run media.”

Originally Published June 6, 2016

Broken Compass

Can someone tell Bernie Sanders’ campaign managers that they could be accused of false advertising?

An ad released earlier this year has surfaced again. Using the song, “America,” by Simon & Garfunkel as its theme, the ad exhibits the delusion of Sanders’ ideology. The song’s phrase, “They all come to look for America,” doesn’t refer to a search for a socialist, third-world country, as Bernie’s vision would achieve. Subjects in the song are looking for the America of opportunity, Bernie, not the land of dependency you desire, your “utopia.”

America’s “true north” has nothing to do with your Marxist vision, Senator Sanders. You should recalibrate your compass.

Originally published April 18, 2016

Intellectually Vacant

Raising a generation of ignorant citizens

Many of us continue to wonder, “How can these Bernie Sanders minions be so ignorant; unaware of the death toll and societal damage wrought by Socialism and its siblings during the Twentieth Century?” And, “Can they not know that Hillary Clinton plans to deliver the same thing?”

No; they do not “know.” To know implies knowledge, which they do not have. Indoctrination does not imply knowledge.

CBS reported, in a recent poll of Americans aged 18 to 26, the results when those polled were asked the question: “Which is the most compassionate economic system?”

Conducted by Frank Luntz in his “Luntz on the SnapChat Generation’s Shifting Attitudes” survey, the results from “The Youngest Voters” weren’t too shocking. For those unaware of our government education system’s indoctrination gains in the last generation: Socialism scored highest at 58%; Capitalism was next at 33%; and Communism last at 9%. Obviously, Communism wasn’t taught, at least as an extension of Socialism, or it would certainly have scored higher in the minds of the minions.

Apparently, Fascism wasn’t offered as a choice either. One wouldn’t want to confuse the respondents with another variation of Socialism… then there would be more questions as to its relationship to Communism. Maybe Bernie Sanders could explain, since he’s well versed in all three. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wouldn’t offer any perspective on the relationship between the three tyrannical economic systems; that would blow their cover.

The followers and new adherents to Bernie’s Socialism, and the respondents to the Luntz survey, are the products of a vast miseducation of the American electorate, in particular those under 30, who have been taught a false definition of “compassion” or have no clue about economic systems.

These “followers” are not only taught that a centralized system of control such as Socialism is “compassionate,” taking from others against their will to give to others who decline to exercise their will, they are indoctrinated that their own system here in the U.S., Capitalism, is an evil system lacking “compassion.”

Not only do these uneducated believe that fostering dependency is somehow compassionate and that others must support this dependency from the fruits of their labor, giving to those who will not labor, they are taught that the document of law that restricts the dependency of Socialism, the Constitution, is evil at its core.

Bernie’s followers are not taught about the Constitution and its Bill of Rights as foundational to American prosperity, allowing free-market capitalism to thrive and grow an economy that has been the envy of the world. They are not taught the meaning of Liberty and what free men and women can accomplish when unhampered in their private economic pursuits, through their individual liberty and personal ingenuity.

They are ignorant of the freedoms they have that allow them to aspire, and achieve, which they possess from birth, as they are of the documents that protect these freedoms. They are told that they are oppressed; but they are actually oppressed by their own ignorance, through progressive education, which teaches them that they cannot succeed without the hand of government intervention controlling their lives.

Despite softening slightly later in life, South African president Nelson Mandela recalled his Marxist roots as president of the USSR-backed African National Congress (ANC) when he stated, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Over the last 54 years, this country has suffered under the truth of that axiom.

Originally published on April 18, 2016

Notes to Bernie

1) The First Amendment doesn’t state that if you carry around a “Vote for Bernie” sign you are inoculated from arrest for the federal crime of stopping free speech by a candidate running for public office in a presidential election. Better warn your supporters before the “protest.”

2) Socialism is not about “elevating people.” It’s about controlling them and limiting choice. In its more radical forms, its about reducing people to automatons who accept the State as their master, replacing God as the supreme authority. Socialism limits liberty; holds people down.

Bernie, you’ve been a Socialist all your life. You should know.

White Privilege

‘Diversifying’ the Military

At a debate in Flint, Michigan prior to a Fox News Channel town hall program, Socialist-Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had noted that “white people” don’t know “what it’s like to be poor.” The myth of “white privilege” as a racial wedge of the Left will now be used in the 2016 elections and ignored by the GOP.

Apparently, Bernie has never traveled the majority white small towns in and around the Appalachian Mountains in western Virginia, West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Obviously, Mr. Sanders has not bothered to tour the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.

He should make an effort. There are plenty of “white poor” in those geographic areas, and the vast majority of what we call “poor” people in this country are white.

As all dedicated socialists, Bernie believes young black men are victims of an unjust society, oppressive since it was created. He believes black Americans are held back and held down by “white privilege” fostered by a corrupt political system and an economic system that creates inequality.

If only progressives would stop the group warfare, the identity politics, and pay attention to individual liberty. Looking at people as individuals is nearly impossible for a progressive, particularly a life-long Marxist like Bernie. If he did so, Bernie would have to find another way to control “the people,” white or any other color. And so would our imperial president.

We have seen the ridiculous, warped “white privilege” curriculums in many of our enlightened institutions of higher education and, sadly, it now creeps into our lower grades to corrupt younger children.

But that’s not the complete scheme of the twisted Obama Regime agenda, to “get them while they’re young.” When you cannot take advantage of inexperience and ignorance, use force to gain adherents.

The Obama Regime has instituted “diversity training” for our armed forces, but it has nothing to do with diversity and everything to do with instilling racial division.

Last April, a “white privilege warning” appeared in a slide show presentation given to personnel who were attending a U.S. Army Diversity Briefing:

“Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to another simply because of the group they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do.”

It explained further,

“Our society attaches privilege to being white and male and heterosexual regardless of your social class.”

Judicial Watch, the organization that uncovered this diabolical abuse of military training, also exposed documents in military training materials that labeled conservative organizations in the U.S. as “hate groups” and described them as “politically charged in a hateful fashion.”

That list includes evangelical Christians, members of the NRA, Tea Party movement members, supporters of traditional marriage, pro-life groups, etc. Generally, anyone who’s conservative.

And, since there are lots of patriotic conservatives who proudly serve in the armed forces of this nation, how can the branches of our military complete the transformation to a gentler, milder, more compassionate “force for good”? And how can they possibly understand “white privilege”?

Their attitudes must be changed; to accept things formerly unacceptable, to embrace practices and priorities that have no place in an effective military unit.

The social experimentation laboratory formerly known as the Armed Forces of the United States of America once existed to defeat any enemy, protect the nation and defend the Constitution. It killed enemies and destroyed things; that’s what it’s for.

It shouldn’t be used to make social engineering a profitable career for progressive bureaucrats or to pretend “white privilege” can be found in the U.S. Navy SEALs.

Originally Published March 14th, 2016.