Vermont Senator says business model of Democratic Party has been a failure for 15 years
- Peter Stubley
Bernie Sanders has triggered a backlash by making comments interpreted as an attack on Barack Obama on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King.
The senator for Vermont appeared to criticise the first black US President as he branded the Democratic Party a "failure".
Speaking in Jackson, Mississippi, he said Democrats had lost a record number of legislative seats.
"The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure,' said the Vermont Senator.
"People sometimes don't see that because there was a charismatic individual named Barack Obama. He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy. But beyond that reality..."
Mr Sanders' comments were quickly branded "patronising" and "deplorable".
Actor Jeffrey Wright, who appeared in the James Bond and Hunger Games film series, said Mr Sanders was "giving a master class on expressing TOTAL ignorance of how black folks work."
NOW OBSERVE HOW THE PELTING BEGINS...every one of these PC liberals implicitly defending the Democrats and Obama's treacherous tenure:
Bernie Sanders dislike of Barack Obama's administration/policies is what connects him to Trump voters.
That is what they can build a bridge on and it's deplorable and disgusting.
— Amene (@Ange_Amene) April 5, 2018
Dr. Martin Luther king Jr warned us about white progressives like Bernie Sanders in his letter from Birmingham prison. On the 50th anniversary he decides it was appropriate to attack President Obama, and belittle the work Democrats have done for America in 15 years. Shame on you.
— Mr. Weeks ✊???? (@MrDane1982) April 5, 2018
Mr Sanders said that the Democratic Party "has got to be a 50-state party" and had to listen to voters all over the country, "including some of the poorest states".
He is touted as a leading Democratic candidate for 2020 but recently refused to say whether he would run, telling the Burlington Free Press on Tuesday: "Well, 2020 is a little bit too far in the future."
Does Bernie Sanders really believe he can run for the presidency in 2020, when he is constantly tearing down President Obama. He is a broken-down bitter and racist old man.
— E. Stamos (@BlueinPDX) April 5, 2018
Speaking at commemorations in Memphis, Tennessee, Mr Sanders told the crowd that Martin Luther King Jr was "one of the great leaders of American history".
He said: "Dr Martin Luther King was not just a great civil rights leader. He was more than that. He was a nonviolent revolutionary.
"He was a man who wanted to transform our country morally, economically and racially."
Barack Obama appeared on a video screen at an event at the scene of the assassination in Mississippi to say that progress had been made in civil rights but more needed to be done.
The former President and his wife Michelle also appeared on a video released by Stevie Wonder - in his first Twitter post - to mark the anniversary.
The five-minute film also featured celebrities including Bette Midler, Billy Crystal, Dave Chappelle, Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, Serena Williams and Smokey Robinson.
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Things to ponder
While our media prostitutes, many Hollywood celebs, and politicians and opinion shapers make so much noise about the still to be demonstrated damage done by the Russkies to our nonexistent democracy, this is what the sanctimonious US government has done overseas just since the close of World War 2. And this is what we know about. Many other misdeeds are yet to be revealed or documented.
Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found
In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” — acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump — a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report
