Pundits are slamming the
Vermont senator for helping GOP's Obamacare repeal efforts, when he is actually
doing the opposite
When Sen. Bernie Sanders
(I-Vt.) introduced
his Medicare for All legislation last week, he anticipated a massive right-wing
reaction—on cue, he
got it. But it is ostensibly liberal networks, like MSNBC, that have in
recent days launched some of the most aggressive—and in the eyes of critics,
absurd—attacks on both Sanders' bill and his decision to debate Sens. Lindsey
Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on their "brutal
and deadly" Obamacare repeal legislation next week.
These attacks reached an apex
during two Friday
morning segments of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," when several
pundits—including hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough—and journalists
took turns dumping on Medicare for All and Sanders himself, accusing the
Vermont senator of "driv[ing] a lot of people towards Lindsey Graham's
bill" by agreeing
to debate the Graham on a national stage.
"Morning Joe" hosts
and panelists charged that Sanders is "stealing the spotlight" and
giving Republicans "an absolute gift" by pitting Medicare for All
against the Graham-Cassidy repeal bill, which has been described by analysts as
the most extreme
iteration of Trumpcare yet.
Ultimately, the panel came to
the unanimous conclusion that the debate is "politically stupid,"
that Medicare for All discussions should come "later," and that
Democrats should focus solely on pitting the GOP repeal bill against
Obamacare—not more ambitious alternatives.
Watch part of the segment:
In an email on Friday, Chuck
Idelson, communications director for National Nurses United (NNU), told Common
Dreams that "Morning Joe's" rebuke of Sanders could not be more
misguided.
Far from acting selfishly and
"stealing the spotlight," Sanders "has for months held rallies
from coast to coast, including in a number of red states," to denounce and
campaign against "the savage, mean-spirited, and elitist GOP bills,"
Idelson noted.
"This scurrilous attack
sabotages the campaign against Graham-Cassidy and perpetuates a losing
mentality and losing election cycle for the corporate Democrats making
it," Idelson added. "It's both an illogical attack—there was a series
of similar GOP bills before this one, long before the Medicare for All bill was
introduced—and transparent in its effort both to vilify the most popular
politician in the U.S. and to try to sideline the effort to actually fix our
healthcare system, not decimate it, with Medicare for All."
As for the notion that Sanders
is playing into the GOP's hands by debating Republicans on their legislation
and countering their deadly bill with Medicare for All, the opposite is true,
Idelson said.
"Part of the campaign
against the draconian GOP bills should be to actually offer a real alternative
to real flaws in the bill," Idelson concluded. "That is Medicare for
All."
A Politico/Morning Consult released
on Wednesday found that 49 percent of Americans—and 67 percent of
Democrats—support single payer, indicating that the public is increasingly in
Sanders' corner.
In an op-ed
for the Los Angeles Times Thursday, Adam Johnson, a media analyst for Fairness
and Accuracy in Reporting, pointed out that the attacks launched by the
"Morning Joe" panel and others are hardly original.
Johnson labels such critics
"concern trolls," defined as people who claim to support a given
objective but cannot act on this support due to vaguely expressed
"concerns."
"Give it more time. We
need more details. Who will pay for it? All meaningful changes to society have
been met with these types of objections," Johnson notes. "But the
game of politics isn't won by waiting for the ideal. Its most successful actors
establish a moral goal and fight for it until reality catches up to them."
As "Morning Joe"
chided Sanders for only "looking out for himself," the Vermont
senator continued his aggressive push to ensure the failure of the
Graham-Cassidy bill—which will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote by the
end of next week—by releasing a video featuring two of his healthcare advisors,
who explained the devastating impact the legislation would have on public
health.
Watch the video:
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