Walker, Bush Lies and Bernie's Rise: 'BradCast' 8/12/2015

Guest: The Nation's John Nichols...

By Brad Friedman on 8/12/2015, 4:55pm PT

On today's BradCast, we begin with the sad breaking news about Jimmy Carter's illness and a few thoughts on the ailing former President. Then, it's onto a bit of fact-checking on "ObamaCare" and on Jeb's silly, fact-free foreign policy propaganda speech last night at the Reagan Library.

Next, Wisconsin's own John Nichols of The Nation joins us to explain new revelations about an old criminal investigation of Wisconsin Governor and 2016 GOP candidate Scott Walker and his remarkable ability to blatantly lie about that and so much more.

"Scott Walker is, frankly, better than just about anybody in American politics at gaming the media," Nichols, who has covered him for years in the Badger State, tells me. "At counting on the media to take his absolute denial and give it the same treatment as the accusations, the charges, rather than getting to the bottom of it to actually figure out whether something is there."

He explains that Walker is clever enough to realize that lying works with today's Rightwing electorate, who get their news from very selective sources that rarely bother to fact-check. "He is, in fact, the embodiment of where our politics is going," Nichols warns, citing a description of Walker as "more Nixonian than Nixon."

Then, Nichols, a long time supporter of Bernie Sanders, addresses the recent controversy concerning Black Lives Matter protesters confronting the Vermont Senator and quickly rising 2016 Dem candidate to suggest that, as he explains in detail at The Nation today, such protests have, in fact, made Presidents such as FDR and Kennedy much greater than they might have been otherwise. He argues that the BLM protests have already had a similar effect on Sanders' campaign.

"What we should understand is that pressure from activists often makes politicians into what we like about them, what we respect about them," he says. "What it means is that pressure from activists forces politicians --- and Presidents even --- to step up, to do what they should do, do what will make them more universal in their appeal."

Finally, some very good polling news for Sanders in New Hampshire and more embarrassing polling news for Bush, Walker and the rest of the Republican Party...

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READER COMMENTS ON
"Walker, Bush Lies and Bernie's Rise: 'BradCast' 8/12/2015"
(6 Responses so far...)

COMMENT #1 [Permalink]
... nemo said on 8/12/2015 @ 5:37 pm PT...

Not sure where to post this, but I have just today noticed that the BradBlog is using a lot of CPU power in my browser, and it does not seem to matter what browser I use. I tested with Firefox and with QtWeb. Both max out my CPU for over a minute every time I load bradblog.com, and it does not seem to matter whether I use NoScript-type plug-ins or not.

Why would this be? I know web pages have become more and more bloated over the years. I can think of stallman.org as an example of a blog site with a similar perspective to this one that is still technically very simple, and loads in a few seconds.

COMMENT #2 [Permalink]
... Ernest A. Canning said on 8/12/2015 @ 6:53 pm PT...

Your colloquy with John Nichols reflects you are still missing the point.

I don't have a problem with the fact that Black Lives Matter or anyone else has challenged Bernie Sanders to set forth where he stands on social justice and/or matters of war and peace. In fact, I'd really prefer that Nichole had been more forceful in pressing him on empire and the military-industrial complex.

Where we differ is on the "method" of that challenge. The example provided by John Nichols relating to FDR was a classic example of confronting a politician with non-violent protest, one that in no way interfered with the rights of others to engage in democratic discourse.

That and what occurred in Seattle are miles apart.

COMMENT #3 [Permalink]
... Brad Friedman said on 8/12/2015 @ 7:20 pm PT...

Nemo -

This site is LONG overdue for a full upgrade/face lift. Prob: I haven't been able to afford one for YEARS.

Please bear with us. If I can figure out how to lighten the load, I certainly will. One of the probs is that ad companies now use more and more resources (video, etc.) in their stuff. That, and just too much stuff trying to load on an older version of the software, etc.

Anyway, as I said. Please bear with me if possible...

COMMENT #4 [Permalink]
... Brad Friedman said on 8/12/2015 @ 7:23 pm PT...

Ernie @ 2:

I don't have a problem with the fact that Black Lives Matter or anyone else has challenged Bernie Sanders to set forth where he stands on social justice and/or matters of war and peace. ... Where we differ is on the "method" of that challenge.

You do know that in virtually ever protest/civil rights movement, folks have complained about the "tactics" used, right?

Here's a fun tweet or two from last December (not even sure what specific event it was in reference to.):

“@lvdjgarcia: @goldietaylor Didn’t Dr King have to contend w/’old guard’ objecting to his tactics too?” He did, indeed.

— Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) December 5, 2014

You've spent nearly a week complaining about the "tactics". Bernie spent about 12 hours answering to the complaint and is now a MUCH better candidate for it.

Who has been harmed here? And isn't the world a better place now than it was before the otherwise terribly objectionable protests?

COMMENT #5 [Permalink]
... Ernest A. Canning said on 8/13/2015 @ 5:40 am PT...

Hmmm. It appears you didn't actually read The Power of Non-violence. In it, Dr. King wrote:

From the very beginning there was a philosophy undergirding the Montgomery boycott, the philosophy of nonviolent resistance. There was always the problem of getting this method over because it didn't make sense to most of the people in the beginning.

The issue isn't whether the tactic of non-violent resistance was criticized. The issue is whether the tactic, which is "nonaggressive physically but strongly aggressive spiritually," was even understood by those leveling the criticism --- whether it is a superior method of protest that, unlike the obnoxious behavior we witnessed in Seattle, does not, by its offensive nature, detract from the goals of the movement.

Thus, Dr. King wrote:

The nonviolent resister does not seek to humiliate or defeat the opponent but to win his friendship and understanding. This was always a cry that we had to set before people that our aim is not to defeat the white community, not to humiliate the white community, but to win the friendship of all of the persons who had perpetrated this system in the past. The end of violence or the aftermath of violence is bitterness. The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation and the creation of a beloved community. A boycott is never an end within itself. It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor but the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption.

What we saw in Seattle was an effort to humiliate and bully Senator Sanders as opposed to a well thought out act of nonviolent civil disobedience designed to win the support of Sanders and the thousands in attendance (black, white, brown and Asian) to the BLM cause.

COMMENT #6 [Permalink]
... Raven said on 8/14/2015 @ 4:33 pm PT...

And, please note, Bernie's response to his podium being taken over was the real "nonviolent resistance" of the evening: he simply walked away.

Would any of the GOP candidates have responded likewise? With their aggressive, militaristic cred on the line? You know they could not have afforded to.

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