As much of a hero as Bernie is, he will not be elected president in 2020

A day or so ago, Bernie Sanders experimented with rhetoric widely interpreted to mean that he intends to distinguish himself as NOT equivalent to Elizabeth Warren.

An article I read noted this quote by Bernie,

"Elizabeth considers herself -- if I got the quote correctly -- to be a capitalist to her bones," he said. "I don't. And the reason I am not is because I will not tolerate for one second the kind of greed and corruption and income and wealth inequality and so much suffering that is going on in this country today, which is unnecessary."

Long time readers of the Arizona Eagletarian will know that I advocated vociferously in the 2016 election for Senator Sanders (that may be a bit of an understatement).

Let me now make this clear. I believe the phrase "if I got the quote correctly" is a stark (or maybe subtle) declaration that Sanders is hedging on this particular tactic.

Why might he do that? Well, I can only speculate. 1) His advisers may have insisted he try to put some daylight between him and Warren; or 2) He may not be convinced it's the right thing for him to do.

Further, as much as he may still have a deep driving desire to become president, he just is not now and not ever going to be elected to that office. He's 78-years old. Now. By November 2020, he will be working on completing his 80th year of life (age 79).

Bernie Sanders recently had a heart attack.

While YOU might still want to vote for him, so many people will no longer do so that he's going to have to come to grips with the reality of his situation sooner or later. Preferably sooner, and BEFORE he might sabotage Warren's chances.

Now, about Warren being a capitalist.

In 2003, she, together with her daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, published first edition of the book, The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers & Fathers are Going Broke. Here's the dedication from the first edition (which I borrowed from my local public library):

This book is dedicated to all parents who

wake up with hearts thudding over the possibility

that buying school shoes and Girl Scout uniforms

will mean that there won't be enough left over to

pay the mortgage. These people are our neighbors,

our brothers and sisters, our friends and coworkers.

They travel anonymously among us, but we know them.

They went to college, had kids, bought a home, played

by the rules--and lost. It is time to rewrite the rules

so that these families are winners again.

Bernie Sanders' effort to disparage Elizabeth Warren in the minds of die hard Berners... well, the kindest way I can characterize it is that he tried to make a distinction but there really isn't a difference.

This effort 1) does not rehabilitate Bernie's cardiovascular system; 2) going back to Bernie's quote at the top of this post, what on Earth in her consistent message during the campaign -- or any time prior -- could possibly be reasonably interpreted to mean that Warren will at all "tolerate for one second the kind of greed and corruption and income and wealth inequality and so much suffering that is going on in this country today, which is unnecessary;" and 3) does not do him or the Political Revolution the slightest bit of good.

If anything, Bernie's ham-handed statement suggests the time for him to suspend his campaign is coming sooner rather than later.



From April 2017.