[cathexis]

Originally Posted by dark_crystal

NBC News: Inside Bernie-world's war on Beto O'Rourke, By Jonathan Allen and Alex Seitz-Wald

WASHINGTON — Forces loyal to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are waging an increasingly public war against Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the new darling of Democratic activists, as the two men weigh whether to seek the party's presidential nomination in 2020.

The main line of attack against O'Rourke is that he isn't progressive enough — that he's been too close to Republicans in Congress, too close to corporate donors and not willing enough to use his star power to help fellow Democrats — and it is being pushed almost exclusively by Sanders supporters online and in print.

It's been the first flashpoint in what promises to be a politically bloody primary.

[snip]

O'Rourke's ability to connect with younger and progressive white voters — Sanders' source of strength in his losing 2016 primary against Hillary Clinton — puts him in direct competition with the Vermont senator.

[snip]

Sanders supporters insist there's nothing coordinated about the attacks on O'Rourke and note Sanders himself and his top allies have said nothing about O'Rourke. Sanders' is an unusually decentralized political world, with a loose collection of activists and operatives who often take actions without direction or approval from any central authority. But they acknowledge that there's increasing public examination of his record.

It started with David Sirota, a liberal activist and journalist who worked for Sanders many years ago. In a long tweetstorm, Sirota noted that O'Rourke had received more donations from the oil and gas industry than any candidate in the 2018 cycle other than Cruz.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

My fear of this type of thing right here is where i started this thread. Sanders has my primary vote this time same as last time, but we do not need to attack the cuddly skater boy. Beto already has all the rope he is going to need to hang himself, in his voluntary association with the establishment wing of the party, and Sanders supporters have a bad reputation.

I personally believe that bad reputation is an artifact of Russian interference, but i think the best thing for the candidate would be if everyone takes the extreme high road until after Iowa at least.

Newsweek: BIDEN DOESN'T WANT TO HEAR MILLENNIALS COMPLAIN: 'GIVE ME A BREAK,'
BY SUMMER MEZA

Millennials who think that times are tough in 2018 have no room to complain, according to former Vice President Joe Biden, who said that he had “no empathy” for young people who compared today to the struggles of the 1960s.

“The younger generation now tells me how tough things are—give me a break,” said Biden, while speaking to Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times to promote his new book. “No, no, I have no empathy for it, give me a break.”

Biden compared the complaints of millennials to what he experienced growing up in the 1960s and '70s, mentioning the civil rights and women’s liberation movements that were gaining traction simultaneously with the Vietnam War, making the United States a troubling place for young activists at the time.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. That is the oldest tiredest baby boomer shit i have ever heard and i have now changed my mind about Uncle Joe and i don't care how sweet he was on Colbert.

Biden is correct. Those of us who were actually fighting the battles of those 60s-70s that are so readily dismissed know how rough it was. What I am reading is an attempt to smooth the creases by using terms like "civil rights," "women's liberation," and "Vietnam War." Tell it like it was, race wars where activists were getting killed often for merely registering voters, the fight to legalize abortion and Equal Rights Amendment where women and lgbtq were being assaulted on a regular basis, and the Anti-War Movement where you had thousands of people in the streets protesting a conflict, we had no business involved in, that had the daily deaths tallied by Walter Cronkite each night at 6. Young men were having to escape the country to stay safe or even alive. The draft, where a simple paper burning could get a man beat up or worse.

Today's struggles don't even hold a match, let alone a candle, to what was happening during that period. It was not the romantic time of purple haze and flower children that some remember, the times were really tough.