Bernie 2020: The best Democrat there is overall ... BUT

Well, it's official: Bernie Sanders is running for president again.

He arguably has the best overall socioeconomic policies to boost the working poor and poor of all races and ethnic groups. He has the broadest package of proposals for this. Free college is great — but we shouldn't fetishize college and, if this did happen, we must guard against a credential creep becoming a gallop.

By agreeing to discuss allegations of sexual harassment, he has broadened the social focus of his campaign, and that could help him on the trail. Otherwise, on this issue? Gillibrand has led MeToo, in a very self-serving way. Klobuchar is a back-bencher. Warren has other, related issues, as does Harris.

So, let's pivot to racial issues, as Dem apparatchiks will attack Bernie on this even more than in 2016, surely. And?

Kamala is a cop. Booker is a kinder, meeker Obama. No idea of Gabbard on racial justice issues. Warren has her DNA issue. No other white Dems who have announced so far are unequivocally better than Sanders.

And, his age? A concern, but, as there's no Dem within 90 percent of him, not a deal, should I vote Dem in the primary next year.

OK, here's the buts, part 1.

Sanders, as of the time of his announcement, basically hadn't said a word about the Venezuela coup in motion on either of his Twitter accounts. Nor had he he said a word about AIPAC squishing Rep. Ilhan Omar. He opposes BDS. His one, staff-run Twitter account fully buys into Putin collusion. (Bernie has, occasionally, referenced our actions in Russia.) He seems part of the bipartisan foreign policy establishment on Afghanistan.

Of course, few Dems are better. Gabbard has said something on Venezuela; no other announced candidates have. All candidates are silent on or actively opposing BDS, including her. And, she's got her own problem in foreign policy — RSS.

So, Bernie's the best Dem overall? Yes. But. (Sidebar but: Per Smokey, he's not the same Bernie as in 2016.)

No Dem is good, overall, on foreign policy. Sadly, Counterpunch gave half a pass or more to Gabbard, briefly mentioning her meeting with Modi, not mentioning RSS, nor mentioning that she is a neocon on Israel. That said, Sanders is just as bad as the rest. (Andrew Stewart wrote THAT at Counterpunch, too. In turn, that shows the unevenness, or relative lack, of editorial oversight at Counterpunch.)

So, while he's the best Dem? Democrats, take note that this Green-leaner will praise him where he's good and critique where he's not.

Peter Beinart claims that Sanders 2020 is better than 2016. As proof, he links to an announcement on Sanders' Senate website, now a month old, that has one sentence opposing a coup in Venezuela. Beinart doesn't mention that both Sanders' Twitter accounts have radio silence on the Venezuela coup-of-sorts in progress.

Speaking of coups? Beinart won't tell you that Sanders still refuses to call the Obama-Clinton backed 2009 Honduras coup a coup. Nor that Bernie, while calling Gaza an open-air prison, still opposes BDS as a tool to get Israel to change its actions in and on Palestine. Not that Bernie, called out by Mondoweiss, goes beyond the bipartisan foreign policy establishment on support for Palestine in general. Nor have I heard any post-facto (and certainly not pre-facto) condemnation by Sanders of the war against Gadhafi's Libya that wrecked Africa's most prosperous economy.

I don't want to damn too much; this IS more than Bernie 2016. But, others, in addition to me, have noted that Bernie or his staff, at least on his staff-run @Bernie Twitter, have swallowed Donut Twitter's words on Russia"gate" and still seems pretty conventional on Syria.

Jacobin (of course) with its not-real-socialism "socialism," ignores this and crowns Bernie as our foreign policy savior.

It would be wonderful if Bernie would endorse those five points. But, he won't.

1. No Dem is taking climate change THAT seriously.
2. No Dem is ending arms sales to all alleged allies. (Israel)
3. No Dem is shutting all US military bases abroad; certainly not in Japan or NATO states.
4. No Dem, including F-35 lusting Bernie, is slashing the DoD budget in half. (Well, maybe AOC, but she's not been that specific yet.)
5. No Dem will get enough Dem support to truly undercut Panama Papers type money migrations.

AND, per the DNC, Sanders needs to sign an "I'm running as a Democrat" letter.

And next, speaking of Green-leaners?

I don't know if Texas Greens, or something like For a People's Party, will launch a ballot access petition drive next year. Robert Francis O'Rourke's heavy turnout in his almost race against Havana Ted Cruz bumped the petition signature numbers up massively.

So, I may vote in the Dem primary and vote Bernie. Assuming I do, there's no other Democrat I would vote for.

What happens in the general?

If the Greens don't nominate an antivaxxer, and said person is available by write-in, that's my choice. If the Greens DO nominate an antivaxxer, then I vote SPUSA by write-in, presuming that's available as it was in 2016.

If neither option is available, I keep moving further left if anybody besides Sanders is the nominee for the Dems. If he is the nominee, it's possible, but not guaranteed, that I vote for my first Dem for president this century.

Within the left hand of the duopoly, I don't know how big a deal it is that AOC hasn't immediately endorsed Sanders. A lot of home-state endorsements have been made for several announced candidates, and AOC may be kicking the tires on Kirsten Gillibrand.

Behind all of this is a reminder that not just now, but throughout American history, the left hand of the duopoly has often been #NotLeftEnough. So, third parties, such as today's Greens and SPUSA, have had a valuable role to play.

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Sidebar: Late-stage capitalist Ted Rall is trying to grift on Bernie's announcement. Ted? Not close to true that you have stuff others won't reveal. I learned about Bernie's military Keynesianism on my own. I learned about Murray Bookchin's takedown of Bernie via Counterpunch. (Read also Bookchin's "Listen, Marxist." Go away.

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Updates, Feb 26: Bernie's thin-skinnedness with the media — above all, Vermont local media — is well-documented for those who know his full history. For those who don't, Paul Heinz of Seven Days lays it out in a national platform.

Bernie has just had Tad Devine and other senior campaign staff from 2016 jump ship. It's not fatal; Reagan turned out better, overall, after John Sears left in 1980. But it is eyebrow-raising. But not shocking, if, as reported, Jane Sanders is behind it.