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marble falls

(56,029 posts)
Sun Aug 2, 2015, 11:19 PM Aug 2015

How the Latest Smear Campaign Against Bernie Sanders Collapsed Before It Started


How the Latest Smear Campaign Against Bernie Sanders Collapsed Before It Started

The Vermont senator’s words were completely twisted. Here’s what he actually said.
By Zaid Jilani / AlterNet
July 31, 2015


This week, Bernie Sanders sat down with Vox.com for a lengthy interview on a variety of topics. One of the topics covered was the Vermont independent senator's views on immigration. Sanders' response to a question from Vox's Ezra Klein about whether the United States should have completely “open borders” has caused quite a bit of controversy. Here's the section in question:

KLEIN: You said being a democratic socialist means a more international view. I think if you take global poverty that seriously, it leads you to conclusions that in the US are considered out of political bounds. Things like sharply raising the level of immigration we permit, even up to a level of open borders. About sharply increasing ....

SANDERS: Open borders? No, that's a Koch brothers proposal.

KLEIN: Really?

SANDERS: Of course. That's a right-wing proposal, which says essentially there is no United States. ...

KLEIN: But it would make ....

SANDERS: Excuse me ....

KLEIN: It would make a lot of global poor richer, wouldn't it?

SANDERS: It would make everybody in America poorer —you're doing away with the concept of a nation state, and I don't think there's any country in the world that believes in that. If you believe in a nation state or in a country called the United States or UK or Denmark or any other country, you have an obligation in my view to do everything we can to help poor people. What right-wing people in this country would love is an open-border policy. Bring in all kinds of people, work for $2 or $3 an hour, that would be great for them. I don't believe in that. I think we have to raise wages in this country, I think we have to do everything we can to create millions of jobs.

The first blogger to pick up on this section and use it to bash Sanders was Vox's on Dylan Matthews, a young writer with a history of engaging in poorly researched conjecture. He wrote a post attacking Sanders, tweeting it out under the curious line that the senator “doesn't actually care about inequality” even though Sanders has spent much of his life fighting inequality in every dimension.

But the actual post is even stranger.

Matthews calls Sanders' view “ugly” because it treats American “lives as more valuable than the lives of foreigners,” and says he's “wrong about what the effects of an open-border policy would be on American workers.” Matthews cites a “Libertarian” website that claims the world GDP would increase between 50 to 150 percent and then a bunch of other random statistics to try to make the case that completely unlimited immigration would be positive for the United States.

At one point, he even throws in the example of Russian migration to Israel giving Israelis as a whole a higher standard of living. (He ignores that the influx caused such large social problems in Israel that the country sought billions in loans to assist it and caused a housing crisis that exacerbated the growth of settlements in Palestinian territory.)

The underyling point made by Klein and Matthews is also very strange: that the solution to global inequalities is for the United States and other rich countries to simply eliminate their borders and let everyone in. This ignores the problems that actually create global economic inequality: dysfunctional governing systems, exploitative supply chains and poor distribution of capital.

People don't come to the United States because as soon as they land on its shores, they are granted riches. Historically, they come here for access to jobs. When the jobs don't exist, they don't come here. During the Great Recession, both documented and undocumented immigration fell sharply. One of the practical results of the North American Free Trade Agreement was the collapse of the Mexican agricultural industry, which was flooded with highly subsidized agribusiness from the United States. What actually happened was that migration to the United States from Mexico dramatically increased, as workers tried to find new jobs to the north.

By Matthews' logic, it was good that NAFTA wiped out a section of the Mexican middle class, so they could risk their lives crossing a desert to come to the United States to be exploited for substandard-wage jobs rather than achieve the middle-class lifestyles they had in their own communities.

A number of other outlets joined in the pile-on after Matthews' missive, including ThinkProgress. But what was most interesting was the confirmation of Sanders' thesis that the idea of open borders is an ultra-right-wing Koch brothers idea. After he made his remarks, a number of right-libertarians wrote pieces slamming Sanders, including Daniel Bier of the so-called Foundation for Economic Education.

What's being lost in all of the sniping at Sanders is his actual record on immigration. Sanders is a son of a Polish Jewish migrant, and has spoken in favor of comprehensive immigration reform and ending detention quotas for undocumented immigrants. He vocally supported President Obama's immigration executive order and has called for going even further, such as including the parents of dreamers, putting him to the left of President Obama. Sanders voted in favor of 2013's comprehensive immigration reform bill, the primary piece of legislation immigrant advocates support. In 2003, he had a zero percent rating from the main anti-immigrant advocacy group, FAIR.

Despite all of this, it appears Sanders is being slammed for admitting a core truth about immigration in America: today, the corporate elite are advocates for more immigration not because they care about the hard-working families who risk everything to come here but because they absolutely do want workers to exploit for lower wages. The challenge for progressives is to be able to conduct a fair and humane immigration policy that defends human rights while not simply doing the bidding of Corporate America.

"I don’t think there’s any presidential candidate, none, who thinks we should open up the borders,” explained Sanders at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce later this week.

That's a level of nuance that may be lost on bloggers who were quick to criticize Sanders, but it's one that working people in America and abroad understand. For Vox, however, nuance may not be the most profitable. Moiz Syed, who works at Wikimedia, pointed out on Twitter that Matthews' hit piece on Sanders popped up alongside a sponsorship from Walmart.

Zaid Jilani is an AlterNet staff writer. Follow @zaidjilani on Twitter.
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How the Latest Smear Campaign Against Bernie Sanders Collapsed Before It Started (Original Post) marble falls Aug 2015 OP
No one cares about any of that either way. There is no smear campaign. nt stevenleser Aug 2015 #1
To quote someone chained in an admin's basement... Scootaloo Aug 2015 #2
At this point, decoding you has become impossible, scootaloo ConservativeDemocrat Aug 2015 #7
Whereas decoding you is quite the challenge FlatBaroque Aug 2015 #20
Says the guy who routinely appears of Fox "News." Scuba Aug 2015 #11
Wonder if you've ever been supportive of Dennis Kucinich who also appears on fox news... KittyWampus Aug 2015 #17
...and been abused for it on these pages... bvar22 Aug 2015 #27
You don't find it odd that a Fox News regular denies that there are smear campaigns? Scuba Aug 2015 #31
He's also been on The Daily Show Dr Hobbitstein Aug 2015 #18
You don't find it odd that a Fox News regular denies that there are smear campaigns? Scuba Aug 2015 #32
I don't care what network Dr Hobbitstein Aug 2015 #36
Yet he doesn't recognize that smear campaigns exist. Scuba Aug 2015 #37
Like the one you're on? Nt Dr Hobbitstein Aug 2015 #38
!! Number23 Aug 2015 #40
First negative thing I have seen you say about Sanders. nt. NCTraveler Aug 2015 #22
You don't find it odd that a Fox News regular denies that there are smear campaigns? Scuba Aug 2015 #33
I think it was a weak cheap shot... NCTraveler Aug 2015 #34
I've no clue where you got the "negative about Sanders" part. Scuba Aug 2015 #35
Saw the interview. Bernie handled it great as always. Used to like Ezra, but heard he'd appalachiablue Aug 2015 #3
They were trying to gin up a little non-existant contraversy, all for ratings. marble falls Aug 2015 #5
Bernie...smooth like butta. Go Bernie! InAbLuEsTaTe Aug 2015 #26
This is some Ron Paul level type stuff. And... JaneyVee Aug 2015 #4
Your dance sequence is quite amazing....nt artislife Aug 2015 #8
Yep, some fancy footwork there... senz Aug 2015 #10
You should have read the OP senz Aug 2015 #9
A knee jerk reaction and I truly resent your mud. marble falls Aug 2015 #13
But she has a plan to fix all of the problems MannyGoldstein Aug 2015 #14
You just have to have faith and buy a ticket to the coronation.... marble falls Aug 2015 #15
First, Gunz, then race, then immigration. Ain't nuttin' stickin', so far. Eleanors38 Aug 2015 #19
Hmmmmm ... So you're saying she's really slick, eh? marble falls Aug 2015 #23
Gotta quit throwing eels and catfish! Eleanors38 Aug 2015 #39
Don't forget HRC is pro cluster-bombs! Divernan Aug 2015 #29
So wrong it hurts, but keep trying TM99 Aug 2015 #16
Bernie Samnders equals Ron Paul because - truedelphi Aug 2015 #24
because the far left is as bad as the far right noiretextatique Aug 2015 #30
Nero fiddles while Rome burns Hydra Aug 2015 #6
knr Douglas Carpenter Aug 2015 #12
This message was self-deleted by its author Corruption Inc Aug 2015 #21
I had never heard that statistic. truedelphi Aug 2015 #25
Okay, what is Sanders' position on increasing legal immigration quotas? Adrahil Aug 2015 #28

ConservativeDemocrat

(2,720 posts)
7. At this point, decoding you has become impossible, scootaloo
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:48 AM
Aug 2015

Would you do us all the decency of writing your diatribes in English and not Emojis?

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
18. He's also been on The Daily Show
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:46 AM
Aug 2015

and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
As far as Fox News goes, he's one of few voices of sanity there.

Know who else has been on Fox News?

 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
36. I don't care what network
Tue Aug 4, 2015, 08:13 AM
Aug 2015

He has appeared on. He's on our side (the Democrats). He's a longtime DU member, and has always disclosed his affiliations.

 

NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)
34. I think it was a weak cheap shot...
Tue Aug 4, 2015, 07:35 AM
Aug 2015

Worthy of no more thought than I have already given. Once again, first time I have seen you say anything negative about Sanders. I was taken back a little.

Maybe it would help if you posted a link of Steven supporting conservative views on a fox.

appalachiablue

(40,994 posts)
3. Saw the interview. Bernie handled it great as always. Used to like Ezra, but heard he'd
Sun Aug 2, 2015, 11:37 PM
Aug 2015

changed months ago. This gotcha set up by he & Matthews = sleaze.

 

JaneyVee

(19,877 posts)
4. This is some Ron Paul level type stuff. And...
Sun Aug 2, 2015, 11:40 PM
Aug 2015

Let me guess, just like his missing in action climate change plan (seriously, he has no actual proposal as of yet), he has no immigration policy plan either? Nor does he have jobs plan. He speaks a lot of truth but doesn't seem to have any solutions.

 

senz

(11,945 posts)
9. You should have read the OP
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:22 AM
Aug 2015

on Bernie's immigration policy --

"Sanders is a son of a Polish Jewish migrant, and has spoken in favor of comprehensive immigration reform and ending detention quotas for undocumented immigrants. He vocally supported President Obama's immigration executive order and has called for going even further, such as including the parents of dreamers, putting him to the left of President Obama. Sanders voted in favor of 2013's comprehensive immigration reform bill, the primary piece of legislation immigrant advocates support. In 2003, he had a zero percent rating from the main anti-immigrant advocacy group, FAIR."



marble falls

(56,029 posts)
13. A knee jerk reaction and I truly resent your mud.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 08:14 AM
Aug 2015

You obviously have refrained from even the most elementary of investigations, like looking up Bernies actions in Congress or in the rest of his life.

I've looked up Hillary Clinton's record - pro TPP, pro Keystone, pro frack, pro mandatory sentencing, pro three strikes, pro private corrections, pro continuing the Afghan failure, pro Patriot Act, pro homeland security ....

Tell me honestly - she supports these issues and you agree with them?

marble falls

(56,029 posts)
15. You just have to have faith and buy a ticket to the coronation....
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 08:30 AM
Aug 2015

Funny how people on both sides who claim to dislike political dynasties are anticipating eagerly a Clinton/Bush contest.

 

TM99

(8,352 posts)
16. So wrong it hurts, but keep trying
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:24 AM
Aug 2015

you might get a smear right eventually.

Ron Paul is a libertarian. They are anti-statists. They support fully open borders because they are anarcho-capitalists and want less government not more. Paul is exactly the type of right wing libertarian that Sanders is criticizing.

truedelphi

(32,324 posts)
24. Bernie Samnders equals Ron Paul because -
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 05:03 PM
Aug 2015

We are waiting with bated breath for yr words of wisdom on this equivocation.

noiretextatique

(27,275 posts)
30. because the far left is as bad as the far right
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:09 PM
Aug 2015

of course. or a least i've heard that here more than once (which is shocking in its utter absurdity, let alone frequency) and there you have it! all you fringe types need to let the hard-headed/hearted pragmatists run shit! just in case.

Hydra

(14,459 posts)
6. Nero fiddles while Rome burns
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:01 AM
Aug 2015

The MSM is trying to push the idea of open borders for unlimited access to slave labor, as 30% of our labor force is forced to sit out and Climate Change is at our door??

This place is going to be Easter Island all over again if we don't stop them.

Response to marble falls (Original post)

truedelphi

(32,324 posts)
25. I had never heard that statistic.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 05:06 PM
Aug 2015

And I wonder how much fudging had to go on to get to 46th.

I had imagined around 1,009th!

Maybe too much weight was given to stories about the Kardashians that later on turned out to be true!

 

Adrahil

(13,340 posts)
28. Okay, what is Sanders' position on increasing legal immigration quotas?
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 06:16 PM
Aug 2015

Put aside the whole the "open borders" question, which is a distraction. Does he favor raising LEGAL immigration limits?

I'm having a hard time finding out through all the noise.

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