A Vermont Socialist's opinion on Bernie S.

[swilton]

22. No one is perfect

If they were, they wouldn't be running for public office.

Franklin Roosevelt had a mistress - I'm sure Eugene Debs had flaws.

I think it is a healthy exercise to expose Sanders now. I don't like the stand on Israel apartheid and Palestine and I don't like the F-35. What I do like about Sanders is that he is much less hawkish than the other candidates and I believe his sincerity on income inequality and publicly funded education and health care.

To have those issues even presented in a campaign puts the left in a much better position than we were in four years ago. Sanders - in a departure from the meme of 'American exceptionalism' mentions making the US more like Northern Europe who are NATO members and participate in that institution to varying degrees. To Sanders' credit, he has a vision that is unlike the status quo.

There is an argument to be made that Sanders' candidacy as a Democrat prevents movement toward a pure social revolution - third party wise. That argument holds that the Sanders candidacy is being used as bait when Hillary will win all along...Momentum within the past week should be evidence that there is no need to buy that... If it happens that Hillary wins the primary, I for one don't intend to vote for her; others may, some will. If nothing else, Sanders participation is helping the left wing of the Democratic Party create a vision of who it is and where it wants to go.