| Cornel West refers to Bernie Sanders as his “brother from Brooklyn.” Having been gravely disappointed by our First Black President, Cornel now pins all his progressive hopes on “our dear brother Bernie Sanders,” his latest Knight in blinding armor. At a recent gathering of hundreds of “international progressive leaders” in Burlington, Vermont hosted by the Sanders Institute, Harvard University Professor Cornel West introduced the keynote speaker, at the same time, heralding the rebirth of his own belief in the possibility of revolutionary politics in the USA when “our dear brother Bernie Sanders stepped forward and I heard his voice and I looked in his eyes, I saw the window of his soul,” (this has a familiar ring to it) and realized that Bernie is “for real.” Looking into Bernie’s eyes and soul, the godsmacked Dr. West, recognized Bernie’s unique qualifications to “bear the burden and engage in the service to working people.” Dr. West should remember that the same Philosopher President who in 2001 looked into the eyes of a political leader and saw his soul, also recognized the universal truth of that old saying from Tennessee: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” With a somewhat different angle, but with much the same enthusiasm, Glen Ford of Black Agenda Radio, in his November 28 BAR editorial 'Bernie Sanders Puts Forward a Program That Could Split the Democratic Party', sees Bernie as the radical wedge that can split the Democratic Party and open the path for a “non-corporate mass party” push for revolutionary change. Glen knows that Bernie has never seen a defense spending bill he did not like. He knows that Bernie also supports the US annual allocation of millions of dollars to Israel for military spending on Zionist campaigns against unarmed Palestinians in Gaza, murdering hundreds and more recently wounding over 1000 Palestinian civilians (including medics and unarmed journalists with clear identification badges on their clothing as to their peaceful and legal role). However, Bernie, does express outrage at USA military support for the murderous Saudi Kingdom. With regard to Senator Sanders' 'Medicare For All' proposal, his original plan several years ago was to make Blue Cross/Blue Shield the single payer/collector in such a system for Vermont. Talk about neoliberal fascism! This was during the same time period he and his politician friends in the Vermont state government were promoting the use of Burlington VT airport for a drone command center. Medicare is inadequate health insurance for anyone, and anyone who can afford to combines it with a private insurance program just to get basic coverage for most essential health problems. When the neoliberal "community organizers" (several of whom had private insurance policies as salaried employees of community services agencies) began organizing the elderly poor to support Medicare For All, back during Obama's first term, Medicare did not even offer annual physicals. The result of the "affordable care act" was that it eliminated the most "efficient and economical program that served the needs of low income elderly" (as stated repeatedly in the twice-yearly 'Report to Congress: Medicare and Health Care Delivery System'). That “most economical and efficient” program of healthcare delivery was known as the Medicare Advantage HMO policies. Early on in his healthcare reform campaign, Obama said he knew where he could get the $500 billion necessary to fund the "affordable care act." It was from the elimination of this Medicare Advantage HMO program for the low income elderly which he intended to plunder and scrap all along as he negotiated the enforced privatization of health insurance for all with the heads of the largest health insurance companies. That was a mean blow to many low-income seniors who were, like myself, living in HUD housing on Social Security and Food Stamps. The Boston Globe and the NY Times gave this fact a one-line acknowledgement of who was going to suffer most from Obamacare, and they buried it in the middle pages of their long congratulatory articles on the passage of Obamacare in 2009. In 2010 my co-pays and premiums began to quadruple, and the costs have continued to climb as services are eliminated and co-pays increase. Bernie and his know-nothing petty bourgeois followers and affluent professional community organizers have their own political agenda, and they really do not understand or even look at the facts regarding the needs of those without adequate health care coverage. There is nothing bottom-up or grassroots about this ideological drive toward 'Medicare For All', again led by a class of professionals that has all the medical benefits (and many, many more) they claim they want to provide for the poor. Bernie is going to work his buns off to unify the Democratic Party---there is no "split" here regarding the neoliberal agenda. As Sanders said, he plans to turn every state in the union blue. When Liberals defend the CIA, and Radicals turn to Bernie Sanders to lead the revolutionary charge against the Establishment, popular acceptance of fascism is practically accomplished. Goddess save us from "Pogressives" in sheep's clothing! MARY LYNN CRAMER, MA, MSW, LICSW, Senior Citizen, has a background in economics and clinical social work, and considerable personal experience with Medicare. She can be reached at mllynn2@yahoo.com © Copyright 2018 by AxisofLogic.com This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you! |