(07-05-2020, 12:56 PM)Dom Wrote:(07-05-2020, 12:18 PM)mordant Wrote:(07-04-2020, 11:50 PM)Dom Wrote: Geesh, now you are blaming people about who their spouse's friends are. Let me guess, it's up to him to tell his wife who she can be friends with?
Damn! That sure is not like the image I have of you.
Not my actual point even remotely. If you are couples dinner partners with someone it is difficult to publicly call them out on their bullshit, particularly if you are a good and decent human being. It would be hard for me too. It is not a critique of who socializes with who, it is just human nature. When you've been in the Senate as long as Bernie has, even as relatively dogged as he has managed to remain to his north star principles -- itself a remarkable feat of character -- you at the same time develop alliances of convenience, personal relationships that are outside your political differences, etc. And these influence your judgment, for good or ill, in a political campaign.
I've got news for you: Just like opposing lawyers socialize with each other, so do members of congress. So do most people with their colleagues. The "other side" isn't poisonous. It's ok to have dinner with them. And it certainly is good to know how the "other side" thinks. Unless, of course, you are simply an obstructionist, which is what got us here in the first place, a government of obstructionism. Nothing can get done.
Well that is kind of what I just said, except for the part about the other side being poisonous. These relationships organically exist and there's nothing inherently wrong with them, but my point, which I think I was pretty clear about, was that this makes it difficult to be an effective political opponent when you're hamstrung by personal loyalties. This is not a problem for all personality types either, BTW, just some, including Bernie's I think. He's polite and loyal and kind to a fault. I am not even suggesting there's a practical solution. It would have required Bernie to be someone that he's not. He would go on stage and say "Joe is a good friend of mine" rather than "Joe is lying about his record" and unfortunately, too many voters can't see what's wrong with Joe's policies if he's "hail fellow well met" to Bernie.
