General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders: Its a tragic mistake to dismiss anti-establishment voters as deplorable [View all]frazzled
(18,402 posts)No, Bernie. You've made up a fantasy that ignores the message that Democrats and Hillary Clinton conveyed to displaced (white and everything else) workers, which was empathetic and at the same time based in reality. No, coal and steel are not coming back, but we will work to bring the new jobs (like advanced energy technologies) and new training you need to improve your lives as we fight the climate change that is imperiling everyone's future. In the meantime we will make sure you are covered for health care (improving the current system) and we will improve education for your children so that they will have a better chance and reduce the cost of college. And you made up a fantasy in which the wealthy campaign donors control the Democratic party (while ignoring the billionaire donors that control the "winning" party and the millions of ordinary Americans who contributed and volunteered for the Democrat).
What you are essentially saying is that Donald Trump offered them a better deal. No, he offered them lies and hatefulness, and you are condoning their ignorance and/or willingness to ignore the hate. You are saying that anger at the "establishment" is a good thing--establishment, of course, including the scientists and economists and diplomats and intelligence analysts and all the other experienced "establishment" workers who contribute their knowledge and expertise to taking America forward.
Increasingly I am seeing less and less light between Trumpism and Sanderism. Both are narrow and deceitful, selfish and unfactual. Both are willing to close their eyes to bigotry and ignorance in favor of their myopic chosen agendas. Both are stuck in the past with dusty ideologies that want to take us back to times when America was never great.
And no, America will never be perfect--just as you are far from perfect. But we keep striving to move forward, and we can't do that when we bloviate with false equivalencies, untruths, and demagoguery.