Bernie Sanders critic Peter Daou now argues he could beat Trump.
Erika
Erika
If you had told me in the spring of 2016 that three years later I’d be touting the merits of the Bernie Sanders campaign— taking flak from Hillary Clinton supporters for not being loyal enough to her—I would have laughed and asked what alternate reality you lived in. But life and politics have a way of taking unexpected turns, and here I am writing about the considerable strengths Sanders brings to the 2020 election.
I do so not to endorse Sanders or to minimize the large and diverse Democratic field. It is early in the primary and voters should take the time to assess all their options. I am going through that process myself, studying how the candidates campaign, how they deal with the corporate media, what policies they’re putting forward. The reason I’ve focused on Sanders in recent weeks is because I am concerned that festering anger from the 2016 primary is causing a rift in the electorate that Trump and the Republican Party can—and will—successfully exploit.
Bernie Sanders is unquestionably in the top tier of candidates for the Democratic nomination, and it would be an epic act of self-destruction for Democrats to plunge into an internecine conflict over his candidacy at a time when they need to marshal every asset to defeat Trump and his GOP cronies. I am calling on Democrats, progressives, and leftists to hit the pause button, to table our disagreements, no matter how intense, as we fight to preserve the rule of law and the last semblance of our democracy. We owe it to ourselves and our country.
My political and personal evolution since 2016 has caught some people off guard. I’m often asked how a staunch Hillary Clinton advocate and former Sanders critic could reverse course. The answer is simpler than it appears. I spent fifteen years before the 2016 election as a progressive activist, a critic of the Democratic Party’s meekness in the face of GOP extremism, and a supporter of the policies Bernie Sanders promotes.
After months of self-reflection about my own role in the 2016 primary, I realized I was among the far too many Clinton and Sanders supporters who got caught up in an ugly family dispute that spiraled out of control. We’ve all experienced those explosive fights. In the heat of the moment, we see each other as enemies rather than human beings who largely share the same goals. So I began to reach out to repair what had been broken. On Twitter, I unblocked Sanders supporters who I had argued with. I tried to see things from their perspective and I asked them to do the same. There’s still some residual anger and skepticism, but the healing process has given me invaluable perspective, and I can now look at the 2020 primary through a clear lens.
This is what I see: An extremist GOP that is methodically consolidating power, stacking the courts with far right ideologues and making a mockery of the rule of law. It is everything we feared from a Trump presidency, and worse. And I see that Bernie Sanders is a strong frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic nomination. He leads Trump in several match-ups. He has millions of dedicated supporters. He is raising tens of millions of dollars from small donors. He is a seasoned campaigner with a presidential race under his belt.
Virtually every state and national poll shows Sanders at or near the top of the Democratic field. Polls are fluid at this stage, but Sanders is a known quantity and his base of support is solid. His proven appeal to young voters and independents is a powerful asset, and his ability to deliver a well-crafted and unapologetic progressive message to Americans across the political spectrum is crucial if Democrats hope to take on an increasingly extremist GOP.
Three veterans shot themselves to death at Veterans Affairs facilities within five days earlier this month. The suicides happened in Georgia and Texas.
Lisa Johnson told CBS affiliate WMAZ-TV she called authorities at the VA April 5 to warn them about her brother, Navy veteran Gary Pressley. "I told them, you know, my brother's there in the parking lot and that he has a gun and he's talking about killing himself," Johnson told the station.
Pressley was found dead inside his car at the VA medical center in Dublin, Georgia, WMAZ-TV reported, citing a police report. "I just wish they would have found him and stopped him, locked him up, did whatever they had to do because I need my son here," his mother, Machelle Wilson, told the station.
She said her son couldn't get the help he needed after he was in a car accident and discharged in 2012 and that he was haunted by what he saw serving in Haiti after its devastating earthquake in 2010. "He started talking about, 'Mom, I'm just, I can't, I don't have the fight in me anymore,'" Wilson told the station.
Officials at the medical center wouldn't comment to the station about Pressley, citing patient privacy concerns. In a statement, the center said it was reviewing its policies and procedures.
On the day after Pressley died, over 125 miles away from Dublin, authorities said another veteran shot himself to death outside the VA medical center in Decatur, Georgia, outside Atlanta. Olen Hancock, 68, shot himself outside the center's main entrance, the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Hancock was seen pacing in the center's lobby before he went outside, WSB-TV reported. Three days later in Texas, another veteran took his own life.
The unidentified veteran shot himself to death inside a VA clinic in Austin, KXAN-TV reported. Witnesses told the station there were hundreds of people inside the waiting room on the clinic's first floor when shots rang out.
CBS affiliate KWTX-TV reported the veteran's case was transferred to the clinic from a hospital in Temple, about 65 miles away. "When he found out he couldn't get the help he needed there, he chose to take his own life," McLennan County Veteran Services Officer Steve Hernandez told the station.
According to the VA, about 20 veterans die by suicide every day. "These are tragedies that we hear about far too often," Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson said in a statement in the wake of the two deaths in his home state of Georgia.
Isakson's counterpart in the House, Chairman Mark Takano of California, said in a statement that three other veterans have died by suicide on VA property this year. "This is a national crisis that we all need to address," Takano said.
Service members, veterans and those concerned about their mental health can call the Veterans Crisis Line to speak to trained professionals. To talk to someone, call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, send a text message to 838255 or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat.
If you or someone you know might be at risk of suicide, there is help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, text a crisis counselor at 741741 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/veteran-suicides-three-veterans-die-by-suicide-at-veterans-affairs-facilities-within-five-days/?fbclid=IwAR0rt-G9PZqll0fr25aEcX1dB__P_GVuHJu6-QrW2wM2cXcES8l9TXO9xBo
JOE BIDEN DEMOCRATIC TICKET TO LOSE 2020!
CORPORATE CANDIDATE, GROPER, NEVER SUPPORTED AMERICANS
Please review his voting record!
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