What Would Bernie Sanders Do - The Podcast

Recorded August 7, 2016. THE REVITALIZED AND REINVIGORATED WWBSD PODCAST IS BACK! We've got a new opening and new mission -- and even a SPONSOR!  First, we discuss a Democratic National Convention delegate's testimony and how the party's actions belie calls for "unity" and a move toward a progressive platform. Speaking of actions not matching words, Joe Biden endorses Debbie Wasserman Schultz at a "Whip and Dip" in Florida, calling her a connected and influential party insider while marginalizing progressive opponent Tim Canova as a political lightweight. This is your reborn progressive Democratic Party...in reality just like the old one. Aargh! Say it ain't so, Joe! Hillary Clinton short-circuits, and we have them um, "audio" to prove it! Dr K. always knew her circuitry would become worn. Perhaps this admission by Clinton herself explains her inexplicable behavior. Hopefully her circuits won't fizzle out when she receives that 3:00 AM phone call... Bill Maher and a few of his fellow millionaires shout down D

Recorded July 26, 2016. Is it the Russians who are "messing" with our democracy, and Who Could Not Be Moved By Those Speeches? The millionaire pundits on MSNBC are doing the work of their peers in the DNC. Chris Matthews just rhetorically asked as to why the Russians are trying to get Donald J. Trump elected, referring to their hacking of DNC servers. Rachel Maddow and others have minimized the revelations regarding the DNC, or accused the Russians of "messing with" or "interfering in" American elections. Well how about your own political party "messing with" or "interfering in" American elections? That seems to be insignificant to a ruling class who claims they are petrified of Trump yet picked the worst possible candidate to defeat him. A caller to Thom Hartmann crystallizes the crumbling veneer of compassion foisted upon Americans as an appeal to vote for Hillary Clinton, and points to the hypocrisy of progressives celebrating Clinton's never-ending "evolution." We will take a break for a week, and then re

Recorded July 21, 2016. It's not easy bein' green...or getting anyone from that party elected president. Bernie and Jill Stein are close in ideology, but clearly not at all alike in their ability to mobilize the masses. So what should we do? Infiltrate and try to reform a corrupted party, or build a new party from the ground up? Do we abandon Bernie's movement and his delegates who are working so hard for a progressive agenda? And while the world was transfixed by a billionaire model and her plagiarism of the current first lady's words, the US committed an act of terrorism by killing innocents in Syria, a new report told of massive civilian casualties in Iraq over the past several months, and North Korea tested missiles with the potential to hit Guam. None of these stories made the front page or were mentioned by many corporate media outlets. Priorities, anyone?  During the Republican National Convention, nary a word was spoken by party members or the media about their platform. And while it's predictably ant

Recorded July 13, 2016. ABANDON SHIP?! Jill Stein or Bust!!? Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton and he's a sellout? If he didn't make the endorsement, you wouldn't see him at the Democratic Convention in July. And you wouldn't see him all over corporate media making Hillary Clinton speak the words he would have her say. She goes from corporate puppet to Bernie's puppet in one tiny little endorsement! It's worth it folks. Speaking of corporate puppets, President Obama just gave an interview on reviving the Public Option from the grave which he dug for it. Hear the mastermind of the TPP (um, that's Obama) tell us how even when it comes to our health care, our very survival, we must balance the interests of the public and private good (private good = our corporate overlords). On July 10th at an Illinois for Bernie fundraiser to send delegates to Philadelphia, Darren and Dr. K. heard delegate Troy LaRaviere fresh off the plane from the Platform Committee meetings. He told us about the backroom dealings, but

Recorded July 7, 2016. House Democrats BOOED Bernie Sanders because he wouldn't offer a timeline for endorsing Hillary Clinton... We, uh, "discovered" audio of that closed door meeting!  Timing is everything! The very day that an FBI report exposed Hillary Clinton for lying to Congress and America, as well as for being "extremely careless" and not a reasonable person, President Obama takes the stage with her and does his best Elizabeth Warren imitation, cheerleading about being"fired up" and saying "there has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office than Hillary Clinton — ever. And that’s the truth!” So either the FBI is covering up or President Obama is. Guess which one?  A new Guardian article polls Americans who think climate change is "missing" from the 2016 election, which we use as proof as to how unaware the American public really is and what was missing from media coverage -- and why. Natural selection might rule the day as high noon comes to the Republican Convention in Cleveland, w

Recorded June 30, 2016. Message to Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party--stop inviting Dr K to see Hamilton with Hillary!  Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren put on their "Blue Women Group" show in Ohio, a shameless display proving that distraction, cheerleading and fear mongering are what nails down the planks in the Democratic Party Platform this election cycle. So what ARE they proposing for the Democratic party platform? While the media portrays "victories" for progressives and Bernie Sanders, many of these are merely lip service -- we give the details. When it comes to climate change, health care, free trade, a $15 minimum wage and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Clinton's surrogates throw a bone here and there but effectively shut down any potential for real change. The establishment wants the votes of progressives, and like their nominee they will, as Barack Obama said put it in 2008, "say anything but change nothing". But we will continue to push for change, even if it looks like that push cou

Recorded June 23, 2016. House Democrats sitting on the floor in protest to push gun legislation four months before a general election seems like more than a coincidence. Perhaps they should've stood up after any of the 30+ mass shootings since 2008, or before hundreds of thousands of Americans were killed by guns since that time. Bernie says "it appears he is not going to be the Democratic nominee," and his supporters start jumping ship. One reason we admire Bernie is that he is above all a realist, in contrast to establishment Democrats who've been downright embarrassing in their display of desperation to distract us from Hillary Clinton's disastrous record. And just because he's not going to be the nominee doesn't mean Bernie is backing down. In his Op-Ed for The Washington Post, Bernie offers a laundry list of what he wants....except, of course, he offers a list of "What We Want." And "What We Want" appears to be in direct opposition to what Hillary Clinton wants. Finally, Clinton's potential Pentagon h

Recorded June 16, 2016. We're #1! We're #1! Oh, but wait…. We’re #1 when it comes to gun violence and transforming other countries into terrorist havens. Dang.   Expanded instant background checks and keeping those on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms doesn't prevent 33,000 gun deaths and 85,000 gun-related injuries per year. Yet fear of the NRA lobby and flag-waving reverence for the Second Amendment keep our legislators from accepting that the Second Amendment is like a vestigial organ that should have dropped off long ago. At the People's Summit in Chicago, Tulsi Gabbard's speech exposed the fatal flaw in our foreign policy. While our leaders tell us we intervene in other countries to prevent humanitarian disasters,  intervention actually leads to death, destruction, civil war, the spread of terrorism and refugee crises. We cite a study from the Independent showing that nine of the ten most dangerous countries in the world have either been recently invaded or occupied by....America! We are aga

Recorded June 8, 2016. (After all state primaries, with DC yet to be heard.) There's a group that has been suppressing the vote, suppressing free speech with executive orders, and blocking information about the media's Superdelegate-picked presidential nominee. No, not those scary Republicans; this is the work of those "pragmatic progressives" (also known as Establishment Democrats). How deceptive do they have to be and how much devastation must their policies wreak before someone will tell the truth? Leave it to people like us (like you?), because apparently Establishment Democrats and progressive media are too busy cowering in the corner at the mention of Trump to speak it. Long after this election is over, Bernie's transformative movement will continue. The movement will continue fighting for the disenfranchised, for those less fortunate, for criminal justice reform ...even if the Democratic Establishment, bound by the wishes of their corporate donors, only pays lip service to these issues. We persevere in

Recorded June 3, 2016. Is it really "the biggest joke of the day" for Bernie Sanders to claim that California Governor Jerry Brown is a member of the Establishment? Senator Barbara Boxer, the five-million dollar woman who has taken over $70 million in donations over her career certainly thinks so. We help Senator Boxer understand the meaning of "establishment politician" so that next time she looks in a mirror she'll get the punchline.  How many lobbyists can you fit into the Democratic National Convention? As outlined in podcasts 48 and 49 , the Democratic Party is testing the limits, and now Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman Schultz add more with their "progressive" picks for the Platform Writing Committee. President Obama has been backing establishment Congressional candidates like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Donald Norcross over progressives like Tim Canova and Alex Law. Looks like the well-intentioned presidential candidate of 2008 has become the "pragmatic progressive" of 2016, saying one thing but

Recorded May 27, 2016. We're very excited to be able welcome U.S. Congressional candidate Tim Canova for an interview with our own Barry (Dr. K.) Kaufman and Host Darren Stephens! Tim's opponent is payday loan industry-supported Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida who, in her role as COMPLETELY NONPARTISAN DNC chairperson has very obviously, carefully worked to ensure the success of HER chosen candidate Hillary Clinton, doing things like stacking debate audiences with Clinton supporters, planning debates during times when nobody is watching and more. But worse from the standpoint of anyone who cares about little D democracy is how very much she is in bed with some of the worst high-dollar players in establishment politics. Tim Canova is fighting the good fight -- and was just recently supported by Democracy For America (DFA). LEARN MUCH MORE by going to timcanova.com!   The What Would Bernie Sanders Do Podcast is Dr. Barry Kaufman with Host Darren Stephens and is produced in Chicago by Ruth Kaufman. Info

Recorded May 19th, 2016. The Democratic Party and the media rush to portray Bernie Sanders and his supporters as violent radicals, but the only violence displayed at the Nevada Convention was the quashing of the democratic process by the Democratic Party itself! Which sounds an awful lot like what the Democratic Party accuses those scary Republicans of. Speaking of Republicans, guess whose lobbyists are "hosting" the Democratic National convention? Last podcast we told how Debbie Wasserman Schultz was rigging the convention against Bernie. Well, Establishment Democrats appear thrilled to have a gaggle of pro-Wall Street, anti-Social Security, Comcast-connected (anti-net neutrality) and Republican-lobbying "hosts" running their convention, again blurring the distinction between the two parties.  And what can you do about "Payday Loan" Debbie Wasserman Schultz? You can support her opponent Tim Canova for Congress, that's what! He endorsed Bernie, Bernie has endorsed him, so now it is time for progressives to ba

Recorded May 13th, 2016. Establishment Democrats are calling for Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race, but it's not just because they're concerned about exposing the hypocrisy and poor judgment of their anointed candidate. Calls for party unity fall on deaf ears as Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC look to silence Bernie's progressive agenda and empower the banksters at the Democratic Convention in July. Rachel Maddow finds Bernie's discussion of MSNBC's corporate ownership by Comcast "AWKWARD." Gosh, wonder why it's such a threat to democracy to have massive media conglomerates invested in political dynasty?? Speed-listen your way through all the corporate media who have a vested interest in a Hillary Clinton presidency, once again affirming Bernie's assertion of a rigged system. Sorry President Obama! We're no longer supposed to talk about a "rigged system," because as he said in his Howard University commencement speech, thinking the system is rigged "will lead to more cynicism, not participation--and

Recorded May 5th, 2016. The overlords of the corporate media have cast their final judgement--it's Trump vs Clinton in the general election. Shouldn't Bernie just bow out gracefully and allow these two to have at it? Shouldn't we allow the Democratic Party to use Trump to petrify Establishment Democrats into supporting Clinton and shaming progressives into "uniting" with the party against Trump. Dr K. says no to both ideas and exposes the tactics of distraction and coercion employed by the Democratic Party and their media. Remember when Maddow and the rest expressed disbelief regarding Bernie and his campaign's accusations of money laundering against the "Hillary Victory Fund"? We have the proof of the collusion between the DNC and Hillary's campaign, and the illusion that the money raised is going to help downballot candidates. So THIS is the progressive candidate who is going to fight for campaign finance Reform? Also in this podcast: an interview with Shana East and Jackrabbit Pollack of The Peoples' Conve

Recorded April 29th, 2016. Bernie's laying off of part of his campaign staff finally gets him widespread media coverage, but the real story is the good news that many of those staffers are already organizing to get progressives who align with Bernie's platform into Congress. Regardless of the math, here is more proof that this is not the end, but only the beginning of a return to core Democratic values. Dr K is not quite ready to accept Hillary's invitation to join her "pragmatic progressive" movement. Clinton says she wants to bring people together and not tear them apart, but apparently only if you come together with Establishment Democrats to throw millions of low and middle-income Americans under the bus when it comes to healthcare, education and child care. And we talk to a TRUE PROGRESSIVE (like Senator Sanders) who at the age of 25 has a novel and innovative means of winning a grassroots congressional campaign against a Democratic machine politician in New Jersey. ALEX LAW is the future of the progress

Recorded April 26th, 2016. The path to the nomination has always been steep, but even after setbacks there's still an urgent need to continue to get out the vote to affect the platform for the Democratic Convention. Also.... what? This thing is actually NOT OVER no matter what Rachel and the mainstream media say! Keep Berning and keep the revolution alive!  Information on the podcast is supported by the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/whatwouldberniesandersdo/. Learn more about how you can help the campaign by going to www.berniesanders.com. Find us on Twitter @wwbsdpodcast. Music by Robin Bienemann http://robinb.org/music.html. 

Recorded April 24th, 2016.  Supporters are clamoring for Bernie to run as an Independent in response to Democratic Party collusion against him. While the changing demographics in America's voting population might favor such a change, we discuss why the clock and recent history do not. … Continued withdrawal from the Obamacare health insurance exchanges by major insurers are signaling the unsustainability of for-profit insurers covering low and middle-income Americans. Colorado takes the lead with an upcoming ballot initiative favoring Single Payer, and opposition to that measure proves the REAL reason Bernie's vision for access to health care in America "just doesn't add up:" it doesn’t keep money flowing into healthcare insurance industry coffers. … Chris Matthews is right: Bernie's campaign ad implying that legislators receive $200,000/hr for speeches is wrong. Okay, Chris – sitting elected officials cannot give paid speeches. But Matthews is really perturbed at Bernie's implication that the hard-working po

Recorded April 20th, 2016. Despite the fact that 3 million independent voters in New York were disenfranchised and 125,000 voters were mysteriously purged from the voter rolls in Brooklyn (what a coincidence!), Bernie won 50 out of 62 counties in the state and gained 106 delegates compared to Hillary's 139. There are 1400 delegates left to allot, and while the path to victory is a narrow one, we can help Bernie close the gap and make it to the convention. And a reality check--why are we so enthusiastic about Bernie in the first place? Because his moral compass and message is not directed by political parties, polling or political expediency. Just his TRUTH-TELLING in the race has advanced progressive causes and exposed to America, most importantly to America's youth, that our political system is not at all what democracy looks like. And the only way to change it is by becoming a part of it.    Information on the podcast is supported by the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/whatwouldberniesandersd

  Recorded April 17th, 2016. Bernie makes history by breaking a major US presidential campaign taboo by offering an honest assessment of what it will really take to achieve lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We offer not only evidence that once again Bernie's remedy to perpetual war is the right one, but a challenge to Israel that will almost assuredly require new leadership that thinks along the lines of the man who could be our first Jewish president. Dr. K. also raised the origins of Hillary's characteristically poor foreign policy judgement in calling for continued military escalation in the region -- Darren guesses right: follow the money. Also on the show: the clash between dirty money's influence and the campaign against it reached a boiling point at the New York debate. Does it matter that Bernie exposed Hillary's unwillingness to come clean with the American people on a range of vital issues, or that she mentioned Obama 48 times but was more than willing to throw him under the bus whe

Recorded April 10, 2016. Do you wonder why Bernie just won Wyoming... but Clinton got more superdelegates? Dr. K. lets us know, with an analysis from an excellent article at Counterpunch.org. Bernie gets an invite from a group at the Vatican the same time Hillary's hosting another $2,700 fundraiser... which candidate shares Pope Francis's moral center as concerns the neediest among us? And an organizing minute! Dr. K. gives a spirited battle cry as we look ahead to New York! FTB, people!   Information on the podcast is supported by the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/whatwouldberniesandersdo/. Find out about phone banking for Bernie at www.berniesanders.com. Find us on Twitter @wwbsdpodcast. Music by Robin Bienemann http://robinb.org/music.html.