2 Questions for Bernie Sanders

by Nicholas Kristof

Feb. 4, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/opinion/2-questions-for-bernie-sanders.html?comments#permid=17454387

Finally someone in the media is asking the right questions!

As someone who became politically conscious as a high school student in Germany in the 1960's, I have always considered myself a "Social Democrat", and as such, I agree with all of Bernie Sanders' criticisms of the current US social, political and economic ills.

However, given the realities of today's social and political environment in the US, there is no way that Mr. Sanders' "promises" (I WILL implement Medicare for all, I WILL implement tuition free college, I WILL break up the big banks, etc.) can be implemented. And the sad reality is, that, given his decades of experience in the Congress, he KNOWS that those promises cannot be realized, and he is thus knowingly misleading his followers.

Take his much self-praised work on a "landmark" Veterans Bill. Given the continuing desaster that is the care for veterans, even he admits that this bill is too little and too late. And the composition of Congress will not appreciably change in this election cycle, even with his much ballyhooed "social revolution".

In some ways, Sanders' simplistic promises are even worse than those from Trump. Sanders has enough experience in Congress to KNOW that he cannot implement his promises, while Trump is ignorant enough to actually believe that he can "build a wall and have Mexico pay for it".