Sunday School 8/16/20: Extra Credit

In yesterday's Sunday School, we heard from Mark Meadows and Robert O'Brien, the president's 4th National Security Advisor and 4th chief of staff, along with NJ Senator Cory Booker. 

I promised  then that I'd devote your Extra Credit to That Guy From Vermont, Bernie 'I'm Not A Democrat' Sanders, and I'm going to do just that, starting with his appearance in the MTP classroom, where Chuck Todd was very fixated on the US Postal Service, like a stamp on an envelope or something. Here are a few of the questions - there were more. 

• What are we witnessing here, legitimate reform of the USPS, or sabotage?

...what you are witnessing is a president who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote, make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote... Look, I happen to think, as you know, that Trump is a pathological liar. He lies all of the time, but I've got to say, I’ve got to admit that the other day he was very honest. He said, "Look, we want to kill mail-in balloting. We don't want millions and millions of people to be able to cast their ballots through the mail, so we'll destroy the Postal Service. We'll defund it. They can't vote." ...And it is an outrage, Chuck, because this campaign is more than healthcare, it's more than education, it's more than the Postal Service. It is democracy and he is sabotaging our democracy.

• Do you really believe Congress can act to hamstring the president here?

We're going to do everything that we can, in every way that we can. And different states may respond differently, but this is an issue. This really is an issue where ideology should not get in the way. I don't care if you're a conservative, moderate, whatever you are. If you believe that people have a right to vote and in a pandemic should not have to put their lives on the line to go into a ballot -- into a polling station, you know what, you have to support the full funding of the Postal Service and make sure that people can participate.

• And give us a preview of your speech, if you don't mind.

 Number one, what I just referred to, is that this is a campaign about whether or not we maintain American democracy...but I'll tell you what else it is. Right now, as we speak, Chuck, and we don't talk about this enough, with 30 million people having lost their jobs since the pandemic, and since those $600 checks have ceased to come, what you are seeing all over this country is people in economic desperation. You're seeing people who today, in America, the richest country on Earth, unable to feed their kids, worrying about being evicted from their homes. You're seeing people who cannot pay their bills, who have no health insurance. What we are looking at is an absolute horror show...

• How do you feel overall about the party platform? And do you feel like you've got enough of your views represented in it?

Well, Chuck, as you may be aware, I am not the candidate, so my views are not the dominant views. But what I will credit strongly the Biden campaign for is that Joe and I talked about this and he and I agreed that we should have task forces dealing with some of the major issues facing this country, including the economy and healthcare, climate change, immigration, education, etc. And the people on those task forces worked very, very hard. And I'm not here to tell you, as a strong advocate for Medicare For All, that we got everything we wanted. We surely did not. But I think if people look at the outcome of those task forces, they'll find the reality that if those task force proposals are implemented, you know what, Joe Biden will become the most progressive president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And that, in this moment, is what we need. 

• Kamala Harris - is she a future progressive leader of the Democratic party, in your mind?

...all that I can say is that I think what almost all progressives understand, that in this moment we have got to do everything we can to come together to defeat Donald Trump, who in my view is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country, and elect Joe Biden. But as I have said many, many times, the day after Biden is elected, we're going to be working with the grassroots in this country, with working people, with people of color, with young people, to stand up and fight for an agenda that works for working families, not just the 1%. And that most certainly includes Medicare For All. So, we're going to rally the American people around an agenda. And I look forward to doing that the day after Biden is elected.

• I just want to confirm that that is not you, sir, that signed a petition in Wisconsin to get Kanye West on the ballot (Mickey Mouse signed, too).

I cannot confirm Mickey Mouse. That I’m not -- don't know about, but I can tell you I certainly did not sign that petition.

And, here are highlights from his visit with George Stephanopoulos in the This Week classroom, where Sanders did even more to promote his agenda than he did on MTP, even though, as he noted, it was not the winning agenda. That's kind of why, for the second convention in a row, he'll be speaking as the non-winner.

• The party has been moving your way on many of the big issues. So will you declare victory tomorrow night? 

Well, one of the points that I will make is that the progressive movement has been making enormous progress not only in electing candidates to Congress, not only in electing candidates to state legislatures but also electing candidates who are running for district attorney, who are transforming criminal justice in America. And also, George, I think, as you've indicated, on all of the ideas that we have been campaigning, the right to understanding that health care is a human right, the need to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, the understanding that climate change is an existential threat and that we can create millions of jobs transforming our energy system, you know what, we have made enormous progress in bringing the American people in our direction, especially the younger generation. 

• What's your message to those of your supporters who are not happy with the platform? 

Well, my message is that we're going to continue the fight for Medicare for all. We have a healthcare system today that's dysfunctional; too many people are uninsured; too many people are under-insured; too many people are going bankrupt because of medical bills. We pay almost twice as much per capita as the people of any other country. The function of health care is to guarantee health care to all, not make huge profits for the drug companies and the insurance companies. That fight continues the day after Joe Biden is elected president. 

• Kamala Harris endorsed Medicare for all during the primaries. Do you believe she's an ally in this fight for Medicare for all?  

Well, I believe that Kamala is somebody who is -- I've known for a number of years -- incredibly smart, incredibly tough. And I would not like to be Vice President Pence in a debate with her. I think she's an asset for the Biden campaign, and I think she's going to do great on the campaign trail.

• Your former press secretary says "The contempt for the base here is, wow." referring to the Democratic Platform. What do you say to that? 

Well, I would say that the overwhelming majority of progressives understand that it is absolutely imperative that Donald Trump be defeated, that we have a president who is trying to undermine American democracy, a president who has turned his back on the working families of this country, a president who has done a horrible job in terms of the pandemic, does not believe in science, is not dealing with the existential threat of climate change... A lot of my supporters are not enthusiastic about Joe Biden, you know why? I ran against Joe Biden. But I think there is overwhelming understanding that Donald Trump must be defeated, Biden must be elected, and that the day after he is elected, we're going to do everything we can to create a government that works for all of us and not just the 1% and wealthy campaign contributors. 

And finally, let's see if there was anything different in his CNN State of the Union classroom appearance with Jake Tapper. 

• Did Mark Meadows say anything that reassures you that the election will be free and fair and the way you want it to be conducted? 

Before we get to the post office, I'm glad that he thinks that Kamala Harris is eligible to run for president. And he dismisses it. He said, oh, sure, of course she is. Then why is the president of the United States engaging in a racist, xenophobic attack against her by suggesting she is not eligible? This is what this campaign is about.   

Jake, what we are fighting for here is not just the post office that I want to talk about. It's not just whether Trump will succeed in throwing 32 million Americans off the health care they have. It's not just whether workers will continue to get the $600 supplementary checks they desperately need, when their unemployment -- or the $1,200 checks. It's not just climate change.  

It is in fact whether we're going to have a pathological liar staying in the White House who lies every single day. I think there have been documented there have been some 20,000 lies that is told that have been documented already.  

So, when Meadows says, oh, yes, Kamala Harris, she's eligible to run for president, then maybe you got to talk to the White House of why they tweet out stuff that is terrible and lying. 

• Are you frustrated that these positions will not be represented on the Democratic ticket? And how do you tell your voters to support a ticket that, in their view, might be more moderate than progressive? 

Well, Jake, two things. Our movement, as I'm sure you know, is doing really quite phenomenally well. All across this country, in New York state and elsewhere, in Missouri, we have elected extremely progressive member -- people who will become members of Congress who are going to stand up and fight for working families and take on the 1% and the greed of the corporate elite. 

We are electing district attorney candidates all over this country, people to the state legislature. So, our movement has real momentum. And we are doing just fine. Now, in terms of disagreements with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, yes, of course we do. I ran against Biden. 

And my message -- my message to our supporters is, we have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump... I view as the most dangerous president in American history. And then what we have to do the day after we elect Joe Biden as president, we've got to rally our people to stand up and fight for an agenda that works for all, and not just a few. And that absolutely includes Medicare for all. I think most working people understand today that health care must be a human right, not simply a job benefit because, if you lose your job, then you lose your health care. That's crazy. That's not what we want. And we have got to take on the pharmaceutical industry... so much higher prices than any other country on Earth, sometimes 10 times more for the medicine that we need.  So, we're going to do everything that we can, A, to elect Biden, and, B, after he's elected, move this country in as progressive a way as we possibly can. 

• If Wall Street breathes a sigh of relief with Kamala Harris being named to the ticket, what does Bernie Sanders do?  

So, what Bernie Sanders is going to do is do everything that I can to defeat Donald Trump, to elect Joe Biden. And after the Democrats have control of the Senate and the House, and Joe is the president, we're going to do all that we can to mobilize people for a progressive agenda. But this is not a complicated issue. Donald Trump must be defeated. Biden must be elected. And after that election, we're going to do all that we can for a progressive -- to fight for a progressive agenda.

I don't know about you, but it sure seems like Bernie Sanders is going to do exactly the same thing the day after the election, no matter who the winner is. He's going to push his agenda, a twice-losing agenda, whether the Democrats like it or not. 

And I guess I'm the dumb one, because I kind of thought that maybe he would realize that his extreme positions are not mainstream positions in the Democratic party, yet. Maybe they will be after all of those progressives take over all of the local and state offices, but they aren't, yet. 

I only hope that he can convince his supporters, who are already whining about the platform, that starting somewhere is better than ending up nowhere, and that they'll make sure they work to pass legislation that moves us in the right direction, rather than holding out for their version of perfection. If not, we're screwed. 

That's your extra credit, and my mini-rant, for this week.  See you around the virtual campus.