I just sent this to
@The Thriller, but it's probably worth posting here as well.
From
https://thebulwark.com/newsletter-issue/the-question-bernie-is-never-asked/
But here is a thing that has literally never happened on a debate stage:
Someone, anyone, saying, “Senator Sanders, you
campaigned for the Socialist Workers Party at a time when they were defending the Iranian hostage taking of American citizens. What does that say about your judgment?”
Or: “Senator Sanders, you supported the Nicaraguan revolutionary and dictator Daniel Ortega. You also supported the Cuban revolutionary and dictator Fidel Castro. Both of whom terrorized their people and worked aggressively against American interests. What does that say about your judgment?”
Or: “Senator Sanders, at a time when millions of political prisoners died at the hands of the Gulag Archipelago, you went to Russia for your honeymoon and came home praising the Soviet Union. What does that say about your judgment?”
If you want to argue that the crazy Marxist stuff Bernie believed 30 years ago doesn’t matter today, that’s fine.
But he should have to make that argument out loud.
He shouldn’t just get a pass where no one even
asks him about it at the same time that he’s casting aspersions on people for once holding views that were comparatively mainstream and even if they were mistaken, were several orders of magnitude less pernicious than the mistaken views Sanders once espoused.
The debate moderators were absolutely derelict in not asking Sanders about this when he brought up Bloomberg’s support of George W. Bush. And the other Democratic candidates were committing political malpractice.
If they lose to this guy, they will have gotten what they deserved.
