Washington Free Beacon: Matthew Continetti: Bernie Sanders Fossil Socialism

Source:The New Democrat

In an era where the Democratic Party and New-Left have been about class and identity politics and protecting this group, or that group, or members of groups from any possible critique in the name of political correctness, you have a self-described Democratic Socialist, unlike most of his supporters, even though he is about as far to the left as anyone can be in America short of being a Marxist, stand up as the voice of moderation. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist, who is the voice of reason and moderation. Even though ideologically he is about as Far-Left as most of his supporters.

With Bernie Sanders, you don’t get so-called, “White people, are bigots and bad by in large. And the only ones that are good come from, or were educated in the Northeast, or West Coast” and share their worldview. You don’t get that “American capitalism is a bad thing and it is what is ruining America and making the rest of the world poor.” You don’t get that, “America, is the real terrorist state and terrorists. And we are the real bad guys in the world.” Or that, “individual choice and competition are bad things.” Or that, “middle class Americans are under taxed.” Or that, “private ownership of the media is a bad thing.” And I could go on, but you do hear this, garbage, over at MSNBC and publications as far to the left as their talk lineup.

Matt Continetti, made a good point in his piece about Senator Sanders. Talking about the message that Senator Sanders gave when he announced for president. That government should work for everybody and not just the wealthy. That health care should be a right and not a privilege, that we need a huge investment in infrastructure. That college should available and affordable to all Americans. His message for the most part was positive and reaches a lot of Americans. But then go to MSNBC’s Chris Hays, who might qualify as a Far-Left radical in Sweden, who said that Sanders missed a big opportunity. By not talking quality for transgender people, racial minorities, women and everything else that the Far-Left in America spends most of their focus on now.

On one side you had a U.S. Senator announcing for president who has been in Congress for twenty-four years, representing Vermont in both the House and now Senate. Who knows how Congress works about as anyone who is currently in Congress. Whose chaired a committee and is now the Ranking Member on the Senate Budget Committee. Whose passed a lot of legislation on his own and has his hands on a lot of the legislation that has passed Congress in the last six years that has been signed by President Obama. Because he knows how the system works. He knows how to govern and work with other people. Which is what moderation is about.

And on the other side, you have someone and his followers and colleagues over at MSNBC and a whole host of Far-Left publications, who have very little if any experience in government, especially Congress, who’ve spent very little time outside of Washington, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, traditional Far-Left areas of the country. Critiquing Senator Sanders for not being the class warrior and race baiter and spending his speech speaking up for groups that they feel deserve special treatment from government.

Bernie Sanders, is a radical by most political standards in America. He’s not dangerous, or a bad person by any definition. The opposites are true, but he’s radical because of what size and role he would give the U.S. Government. And yet, he’s moderate and even centrist compared with his supporters on the Far-Left and the Tea Party on the Right.