Kend --- I'll take your response to my question as a "no."

Palin, I just clicked on that link in your post #45. And having read "The Myth of Bernie Sanders", I'm more than a little skeptical. Mr. Naylor claims Bernie "backs all of President Obama's nasty little wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen…" Really?! I don't think so. I've listened to those "Brunch With Bernie" segments on Thom's show too many times to believe that accusation has any merit. Bernie's always lamenting over the lives and resources wasted on needless wars. He complains at great length about the Pentagon's bloated budget, at the expense of desperately needed social services and infrastructure and so on. When Bernie talks about supporting the troops, it doesn't mean the same thing as McCain means by uttering those words. When Bernie talks about supporting our troops, he means we have to provide the resources and the care they need after returning home from those wars, including mental health services for PTSD and for all the psycho-emotional damage suffered from combat-related trauma. Regardless of how we feel about the wars, we owe our veterans that much. If Bernie had the power to end all those wars "posthaste", he would most certainly have done so.

And Bernie "thinks drones are cool"? And is an Islamophobe? REALLY? I've heard and read no evidence of that. He happens to be a lot more focused on our problems here than on the Israeli-Palistinian conflict. To interpret this to mean he never questions the U.S. government's "unconditional support" of Israeli genocide, or considers them "nonevents", is taking quite a leap.

I'll admit, it doesn't thrill me to learn of Bernie having anything to do with the likes of Sandia National Laboratories, who has ties to Lockheed Martin and a track record of manufacturing weapons. However it isn't weapons production for which Bernie intends to enlist their talents; it's projects having to do with renewable energy he's interested in, and energy efficiency. Things like electric grids.

"Bernie Sanders loves to rail against Corporate America, Wall Street and the super-rich," says Mr. Naylor, "but has nothing to show for it". If Mr. Naylor bothered to check that Voter's Defense Manual, he would see that Bernie is vastly outnumbered by the fascists in Congress. If I recall, there are about five hundred seats in Congress; Bernie occupies just one of those. So how is he going to "constrain their power and influence" all by himself?

This is what I hate about so many on the left. It's all or nothing. No candidate is ever good enough. And I am sick of it. - Aliceinwonderland

Wow! Aliceinwonderland! You're a real dynamo...excellent work! Thanks! Yes, given what you have shown, Bernie Sanders appears to be just what everyone says he is. I guess I need to spend more time watching and listening to Bernie on Thom's Friday shows.

I still can't get over how fantastic that web site is and that manual they put out.

One thing I noticed when comparing Bernie Sanders with two Democrats, Ron Wyden and Barbara Lee (both "Has Political Courage) is that with a very few vote differences..they are virtually identical...and the political interests are all virtually identical as well.

Marc, to my knowlege -- and given I remain (somewhat) dependent on Ruling Class Media for information, that knowledge may in this case be sorely limited -- Sen. Sanders has not formally announced his candidacy. Instead he has said he would consider running, presumably if there were a loud enough outcry on his behalf.

But if he does run, I would probably vote for him.

My reasoning is threefold:

(1)-Though I am powerfully influenced by Marx, I also believe very fervently in democratic socialism for the same reason I believe in nonviolence -- both seek to avoid the death and destruction that otherwise accompanies political transformation -- though as we see demonstrated more fully every day as the USian Empire approaches the real-world fulfillment of that Harry Turtledove short story about what happens to Gandhi when he dares resist the Nazis, I doubt either tactic will be long-term effective in the savagely pittiless capitalist future that's a-dawning. That's the biggest reason I'm glad I'm old. I probably won't be around when the competing factions -- prosperity-gospel JesuNazis in the South and Middle West, eco-socialists and/or anarchists on the West Coast, more traditional socialists including Communists on the East Coast, not to mention the Reconquista folks from south of the border and probably the Russians trying to take back Alaska -- start waging war on one another and turn the United States into Somalia North.

(2)-While my particular view of democratic socialism may be a decidedly minority stance, I have long been convinced a socialist government under our constitution (and thereby limited by our Bill of Rights and our presumptive balance of legislative, executive and judicial powers) -- and assuming the One Percent didn't immediately overthrow it with a coup by one of their private armies (think Blackwater) -- could give us want-free lives that might literally approach paradise on earth.

(3)-My dream ticket would of course by a Sanders/Warren ticket -- either one as the presidential candidate (though I'd prefer Sen. Warren as my sense of her is she sees the bigger picture, no offense to Sen. Sanders about whom I surely know less than I know about Sen. Warren).

Alas, given the givens, both Sen. Sanders and Sen. Warren are probably more effective in the Senate. Also I'm terrified at the prospect of what the One Percent would order done to either or both should they actually come within range of winning the presidency.

When I drive around, I think about Libertarianism. Today I saw children getting out of school. I wondered how the Libertarians would handle the coplexities of schools. The other day I was around the courthouse. I wonder what Libertarians propose about crime, but not only crime, family problems such as child custody or parents not allowed to see their children after a divorce or domestic assaut. I see the traffic lights swinging in the wind—someone will have to fix it if it falls. I see the spring pot holes. "They" will come and fix them. Do Libertarians believe in roads? They would privatize? Who would oversee the private companies? What about graft and corruption? The rules of trade? I'll keep listening…

I'm old enough. 73. I don't remember the car companies fighting against installing seat belts. I remember we didn't used to have seat belts and then we did. I guess I must have been thinking about other things.

I'm not much of a numbers person. Wouldn't .0003% translate to three-hundredths of one percent? Correct me if I'm wrong; I won't be offended.

Regardless, that's pretty tiny fraction. According to Democracy Now, this would have added the whopping total of one dollar to the production cost of each vehicle, a product costing tens of thousands of dollars. Seriously… What better proof can there be that capitalism is fundamentally evil? When numbers (or profit) trumps life, my friends, we've got a serious problem. Of course this isn't exactly news to anyone who's paying attention. But here is one more case in point. Ralph Nader nailed this phenomenon decades ago, with his famous book titled "Unsafe At Any Speed" (if I recall correctly). - Aliceinwonderland

P.S. Had ole Ralph run for prez again in '08, or in 2012, I would have picked him in a heartbeat.

Marc, having just read your post addressed to PD (#65), I can't resist a word or two in Palin's defense. In light of how Obama conned his base, getting them fired up over "change we can believe in" (which turned out to be anything but), I think it's healthy to subject even the most virtuous public officials to a certain amount of scrutiny. If Bernie is what he says he is, and is truly sincere about representing The People and not The Plutocrats, then Bernie will come through that scrutiny smelling like roses. I wouldn't begrudge Palin's skepticism, in light of the betrayal we've so recently endured. - AIW

Okay… back again, folks, with my 2012 Voter's Defense Manual! I think it's safe to assume that a majority of you have been making do without this important tool, so I'll share the info on Bernie.

I'll start with interest group ratings, which ought to be pretty revealing. This manual lists seventeen such groups. From each of these groups, a senator can be scored anything from zero (meaning zero support for a group's agenda) to one hundred, or 100%. Bernie got perfect scores with five of these groups: NARAL Pro-Choice America, NAACP, The National Education Association, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the League of Conservation Voters. He scored 93% with the ACLU, 89% with the AFL-CIO, and 82% with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

Bernie's lower scores include 60% with the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, 22% with National Federation of Independent Business, 16% with the National Taxpayers Union, 14% with National Journal - Conservative on Foreign Policy, 14% with the Family Research Council, 13% with Gun Owners of America, and zero with the following: National Right To Life Committee, Citizens Against Government Waste, and the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Next are listed Bernie's positions on legislative amendments classified as "key votes", which means they portray where each senator stands on certain issues that have received national media attention, are easy for voters to understand and have been inquired about a lot on the Voter's Research Hotline.

Bernie voted "Yes" on the following:

*Budget, Spending & Taxes: Minimum Tax Rate for High-Income Taxpayers; vote to invoke cloture on a bill requiring taxpayers with over a million dollars' annual income to pay a minimum tax rate of 30%. (Failed to pass, 51-45)

*Civil Liberties & Civil Rights: Prohibits Detention of U.S. Citizens Without Trial - Vote to adopt an amendment prohibiting the armed forces of the United States from detaining a U.S. citizen without trial during wartime (Rejected 45-55)

*Defense: Repeals Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq - Vote to adopt an amendment that repeals the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq, effective no earlier than January 1, 2012 (Rejected 30-67)

*Energy: Amends Energy-Related Tax Credits - Vote to invoke cloture on a bill that establishes tax credits for renewable energy and repeals certain tax credits for oil companies (Failed to pass 51-47)

*Labor: American Jobs Act of 2011 - Vote on a motion to invoke cloture on a bill that establishes programs designed to increase employment in the United States (Rejected 50-49)

*Trade: Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act of 2011 - Vote to pass a bill that authorizes the Dept. of the Treasury to identify "fundamentally misaligned" currencies and specifies the actions to be taken in response to the misalignment of foreign currencies (Passed 63-35)

I find it interesting that all but one bill Bernie voted in favor of failed to pass. This guy's had his work cut out for him!

So now I'll list the amendments Bernie voted against:

*Budget, Spending & Taxes: Budget Control Act of 2011 - Vote to concur with House amendments and pass a bill that raises the national debt limit and establishes discretionary spending limits. (Passed 74-26)

*Budget, Spending & Taxes: Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Hatch bill) - Vote to pass a joint resolution that submits a constitutional amendment to the state legislatures that prohibits the federal government from spending money in excess of its revenue, beginning five fiscal years after the amendment is ratified (Rejected 47-53)

*Budget, Spending & Taxes: Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Extension - Vote to adopt a conference report that extends the temporary payroll tax holiday, extends the emergency unemployment compensation program, increases retirement contributions for federal employees, and requires the Federal Communications Commission to auction certain federally-owned broadband spectra. Conference Report Vote, Adopted 60-36

*Congressional & Legislative Affairs: Prohibits Consideration of Bills Containing Earmarks - Vote to adopt an amendment that prohibits Congress from considering any bill, resolution, amendment or conference report that includes earmarks (Rejected 40-59)

*Energy: Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline Project - Vote to adopt an amendment that exempts the Keystone Pipeline Project from further executive approval and authorizes the State of Nebraska to modify existing route plans through the state. (Rejected 56-42)

*Foreign Aid & Policy: Sale of F-16 Aircraft to Taiwan - Vote to adopt an amendment requiring the president to sell at least 66 F-16 C/D fighter aircraft to Taiwan (Rejected 48-48)

*Health: Repealing the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act in its entirety as well as all health care-related provisions of the Health Care & Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Failed 47-51)

*National Security: Patriot Act Extension - vote to concur with House amendments and adopt additional amendments to a bill that extends the expiration date of the USA PATRIOT Act from May 27, 2011 to June 1, 2015 (Passed 72-23)

*Technology & Communications: Disapproval of FCC Regulation of Internet & Broadband Industry - Vote on a motion to proceed on a joint resolution that prohibits Federal Communications Commission rules regulating the Internet & broadband industry practices from taking effect (Failed 46-52)

*Trade: Trade Promotion Agreement with Columbia - Vote to pass a bill that improves and implements the United States-Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2012 (Passed 66-33)

*Transportation: Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2012 - Vote to adopt a conference report that appropriates funds for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for fiscal years 2012 through 2015 (Passed 75-20)

So there you have it, my friends! I hope this helps. I would have appreciated more detailed info on some of these, but it's a lot better than nothing. - Aliceinwonderland

And if those who so fancy total capitalism didn't manage to make it into the top .001%, they'd be sloughed back into the barrel with the rest of us dregs of society. And we'd tear them from limb to limb for helping those scum-bags who took it all. And if we get hungry enough, we may even resort to cannibalism...eat the rich!

Au contraire, Mr. Kend. "True capitalism," whether in Mussolini's Italy, Franco's Spain, Hitler's Germany, Pinochet's Chile, the IMF's Ukraine or Wall Street's United States, is -- just as Karl Marx predicted and Ayn Rand demanded -- capitalist governance: absolute power and unlimited profit for the Ruling Class, total subjugation for all the rest of us.