Huh. Let's see, now.. Sanders opposes using U.S. troops against Islamic State, and wants the regional powers to lead, instead; Sanders supports the Iran nuclear deal, which means no war; and he wants to cut defense spending because he thinks it's obscene we spend as much as the next ten countries combined for defense. That's off the top of my head and before I listen to Swanson.

Beginning at 21:38 of this video, Bernie Sanders discusses matters of war and peace:

George @ 1:

Let us know what you think after you listen. (Serious about that.)

All right. So, I listened. And, yeah, Sanders isn't Kucinich. And, yeah, Brad may be right why that is. David mentions the F-35 boondoggle. Sanders doesn't fight it. He said it's unstoppable. There's a sub-contract for every constituency. The project was designed much more carefully to be unkillable than the plane was to be cost-effective.

Re George @1 & 4:

I, like you, support Sanders' candidacy. But, in a truly democratic society, support should never preclude leveling valid criticism.

While I believe that the suggestion that Bernie Sanders is driven by empire and militarism is over the top, I do believe that he could and should be far more forceful in challenging empire and the military-industrial complex. He could, as David Swanson suggests, have simultaneously challenged the erroneous assumption that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability and, at the same time, defended the current negotiations.

OK, Bernie is not perfect. I only agree with him on 85-90% of his positions. Yes, he could/should be forcefully for slashing the military budget. However, he's under massive attack for not being a realistic, electable candidate already. I was for Kucinich in '08, gave him money, and watched him be totally closed out of the campaign early on (screw you Chuck Todd for keeping Dennis off the MSNBC primary debates). Then Dennis was turfed out of office in the 2010 redistricting, for continuing to call for single-payer health care. Bernie did oppose the Iraq war, in sharp contrast to Hillary. He has spoken out in favor of the treaty with Iran, against the Keystone pipeline, and against the TPP. Hillary has been wishie-washie and non-committal at best on those issues.

No, I think from what I have been reading is that the Black Lives Matter protest, and possibly the anti-military activists who are attacking Bernie may, MAY be part of a low-key, Clinton-instigated dirty tricks campaign against Bernie. Why else would these people be protesting someone who was getting arrested at civil rights protests before most of them were born? Yes, he supports Israel's right to exist (I don't - one of the 10% of things I disagree with Bernie on), but please show me one, just ONE successful officeholder in this country who openly opposes Israel. Not even the only Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison, dares to speak out for the Palestinians and against Israel. Hey, at least Bernie boycotted Bibi's speech before Congress.

I think Brad hit on what Bernie's thinking might be, stick to his long-time issue points, take Hillary down, and then come out with a comprehensive platform for the general election. With all of the powerful people and institutions aligned against him, he's made amazing progress. Don't buy into any dirty DLC tricks against him.