Hillary Clinton & Bernie Sanders. Source: Associated Press
Why is Hillary Clinton still so angry at Bernie Sanders?
I think it is because his criticisms, and his possible victory, call in question the meaning of her career.
She has spent her whole political life ingratiating herself with the rich and powerful. Her justification is that this is the price of getting into a position in which it is possible to do good—the limited good that is politically possible.
Clinton has a record of supporting regime change wars, pro-corporate trade treaties and bank bailouts, for which she has been richly rewarded in campaign contributions and six-figure speaking fees.
When I bring this up, her supporters say she “had to” do these things. Otherwise, they say, she would have been shut off from political power, and she would not have been able to be a champion for children and working mothers.
But if Sanders wins, it will show that you don’t “have to” have the patronage of the rich and powerful in order to win.
Clinton has been the subject of scurrilous and false attacks all her political life—mostly depicting her as some sort of dangerous or extreme radical, which is the opposite of the truth. But Sanders’ criticisms are the ones that sting, because they are based on fact.
A Sanders victory would not break Clinton’s rice bowl. She will continue to be a rich celebrity until her dying day. All it would do is show that she was on the wrong side of history.
LINKS
Hillary Clinton in Full: A Fiery New Documentary, Trump Regrets and Harsh Words for Bernie by Lacey Rose for Hollywood Reporter.
We Regret to Inform You That Hillary Clinton Is at It Again by Luke Savage for Jacobin magazine.
Why They Hate Bernie’s Supporters by Carl Bejier [Added 1/25/2020]
Tags: Bernie Sanders, HIllary Clinton
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
January 24, 2020 at 4:58 pm |
Absolutely right! Hillary and Bill both sold out early in their poltical careers. While skilled polticians they have never demonstrated that they are people of principle.
LikeLike
January 24, 2020 at 5:04 pm |
Mrs. Clinton may believe that Sanders cost her the 2016 election. I do wish she would retire. I hope her criticism doesn’t hurt Sander’s chance at the Democratic nomination.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 24, 2020 at 9:13 pm |
He supported her even after the corrupt DNC rigged the nomination process against him. His supporters naturally hate Clinton but his campaigning very nearly got her over the line. Had she won, I do not think she would have thanked or rewarded him.
I do not support Bernie for policy reasons, and I note with bemusement that he’s never had a real job. However, he possesses a basic human decency that many other politicians lack.
LikeLike
January 25, 2020 at 6:35 am |
According to Bernie Sanders’ Wikipedia page, he worked as a Head Start Teacher, psychiatric aide and carpenter in New York City after graduating college in the late 1960s.
He continued to work as a carpenter after moving to rural, northeast Vermont. He tried to start a business making audio-visual lessons on great American radicals for the public school system. He also did a little college teaching as an adjunct.
Whatever you think about Sanders’ ideas, you can’t justly say that he’s never worked for a living.
LikeLike
January 25, 2020 at 4:36 pm |
I’ve done a little more research into Bernie Sanders’ pre-1980 work history, and I think it’s fair to say that he never held a steady job prior to being elected Mayor of Burlington.
Much of his early life is hidden. He doesn’t like to talk about it and discourages his friends from talking about it, and Vermonters tend to respect peoples’ privacy.
If he is nominated, his life history is going to become an issue whether he likes it or not.
Here is what I was about to find out about his work history.
After graduating college in 1966, he worked as an aide in a psychiatric hospital and taught pre-schoolers, both in New York City, and he did research on property taxes for the Vermont Department of Property Taxation and registered people for food stamps for a non-profit organization.
He worked off and on as a carpenter, but apparently wasn’t very good at it and didn’t earn much money from it.
He collected unemployment insurance for a few months in 1971, but I don’t know what job he was laid off from. There doesn’t seem to be any record of him receiving any other government benefit or welfare program.
He started a non-profit organization in 1977 called the American People’s Historical Society, which made educational films about radicals and neglected figures in American history. It was in effect a business.
His crowning achievement was a 30-minute videotape on the life of Eugene V. Debs, the socialist labor leader who was imprisoned during World War One.
Here are a couple of articles about Sanders’ early life.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-vermont-119927
https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-vermont-mayor-history-elections
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27, 2020 at 9:25 am
There is nothing in the articles cited that I find reprehensible. Keeping it quiet seems unwise, though. It is sure to be used by Bernie’s enemies in the most damaging way possible. If he seems to be ashamed of it, that will be worse for him.
LikeLike
January 27, 2020 at 10:28 am
I agree with you. In today’s gig economy, there are lots of hardworking people who are unable to hold down “real jobs” if a real job consists of working 9 to 5 for the same employer over a long period of time.
LikeLike
January 28, 2020 at 8:01 am |
[…] Why does Clinton hate Sanders so much? […]
LikeLike
September 3, 2020 at 9:31 pm |
[…] Why does Clinton hate Sanders so much? […]
LikeLike