I really like Jeremy Corbyn and his views on so-called austerity, on education, on taxes, and most importantly on foreign policy. The frothing at the mouth of his critics in the United Kingdom and beyond show only the desperation of 1%'er fat cats, neo-conservative and neo-liberal globalists, zionists, etc. who in an increasingly globally aware world are being exposed for the force for evil they all are.
However, America is behind the curve on this what with its echo chamber of ignorance, kneejerk indoctrination against anything that fits under the catch all description "socialism", its racism and xenophobia, and most of all its self-deception that the Democratic Party's version of liberalism is really liberal and not neo-liberalism masquerading as progressive thought.
The latter point is important because Hillary Clinton tried to slander (in her mind) Bernie Sanders by comparing him to Jeremy Corbyn. Sanders, who is miles away from Corbyn on foreign policy, gun control, immigration and other issues (and his distance is not only a result of the differences between the UK and the USA political systems and social problems). The fact that someone who could have been considered a Republican a couple decades ago describes himself as a Socialist is only another indicator of how right the pendulum has swung in America and how clueless Americans are about this especially American progressives.
Specifically, A Clinton PAC is running ads attacking Bernie Sanders for his support of Corbyn by trying to link them to Hugo Chavez and Hamas, both democratically elected leaders of their own people. This ad tells us more about Hillary than it does Sanders - Voting for her for President (if she does manage to stagger through the primaries)would be no different than voting for a Republican on the issues that really matter. At least the Republican is more honest.
But Hillary recognizes this and is flip flopping wildly
Hillary Clinton announced today that she is against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (answering half of one of my questions in my dem debate questions post of last week - see below). What's funny about this is that Clinton helped create this agreement when she was the Secretary of State. She negotiated its terms and conditions and helped draft the language. Considering both Clinton's past enthusiasm for trade deals that sacrifice workers and working conditions for profit, I don't believe for a second that in her heart she is anything but totally 100% for the TPP but she recognizes the political realities - Every other Democratic candidate currently in the race opposes it as does a number of Republicans including Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Ben Carson. The only people who support it are the Obama Administration (including Joe Biden) and establishment Republicans like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. A lot of what's in the TPP has been kept from public view but we do know it is yet another attempt to elevate private companies to equal legal status with sovereign nations and allow them to supersede local law on things like workers rights, environmental law etc. It would also force national agencies to become Internet policemen to enforce intellectual property law making for a much more intrusive government. As far as Clinton goes, all politicians are shameless to a certain degree but the Clintons have elevated the audacity of shamelessness to hitherto unknown new levels.
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