Not worthy to tie Bernie's shoelaces.

to make fun of whoever he brings up. that's his job.

Dave's bosses are part of it.

http://election.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1277&pid=6155

After all, they owe Bill Clinton a lot since he signed the Telecommunications Act that allowed them to consolidate and that gave each of the big guys so much power.

Jimmy Carter went out to do great deeds like Habitat for Humanity.

The Clintons were very strategic, starting in Arkansas and then sending Hillary to NY state where she could best be positioned to climb the corporate connection ladder.

The Clinton Global Initiative is the ultimate in high stakes conflicts of interest.

I could always tell that the Clintons typified that "well we gotta be like them if we're gonna change them" attitude I've heard before from friends who used to really care and then sold out to become brokers, etc.

Now she is reported to have said that we have to topple the 1%. She is among the 1%, how's that for bullshit?

They are the ones who have the power in our society. If at least some of them don't get on board with social justice, than there aren't many alternatives within the system for real change.

Bryant

Corporate America has put it's seal of approval on the coronation.

funny, but that time has long past.

Dennis Kucinich got a lot of that kind of ridicule & disdain too.

It seems they ridiculed for 'not being on everyone's radar' when in fact it's corporate media that doesn't put them on anyone's radar.

Having said that, I'm a big fan of Dave Letterman. I'd like to see the clip so I can judge it for myself.

So he's going into oblivion where I thought he was long ago.

GO BERNIE!

Seems he's scaring the shit out of them! THAT is a good sign!

instead of making fun of the Senator from Vermont who might be running for President.

He should have retired a long time ago.

a yootoob episode a couple weeks ago and that;s what I got from it, he was so bored with his own show. yes, he should have retired a long time ago... before he stopped being funny.

He'll be retiring up here in Montana when he's done with TeeVee but I'm sure he'll keep a winter residence in LA area somewhere too.

I can't criticize something 'til I've seen it.

You could imagine what would happen if he won the Dem. Nomination..

I love Bernie but you guys that think he is a game changer, think again.. The Right wing hate machine would be in heaven thinking of how they could portray him.. Old, Marxist, tree hugger, socialist... thats just the beginning.. our low informed electorate would just suck it up..

Yes, the RW media machine (cuz there's no vast right-wing conspiracy, right?) would portray her as they always have: every librul-sounding "smear" they can come up with whether true or not (environmentalist wacko, leftist, godless, commie-socialist-marxist-feminazi, etc.) -- which is basically the same bag-o-shit they throw on ANY Democrat running for ANY office at ANY level of public service. PLUS, they have their usual Hilary-specific stuff that will be dredged up from the past (man-hater, Foster, Whitewater, etc.) plus their shiny-new "-gates" like email-gate <groan> and BenghaziBenghaziBenghazi... AND YET she still powers along with popularity and respect. Like "Teflon Reagan." She's had a long career over which to rise above and leave behind all that RW crap and basically prove it wrong.

On the other hand, Bernie is not a household name and could probably, and unfortunately, be easily cast by the media in the role of 2016's "loony" candidate -- because the media always, always designates such a candidate from the left (NEVER from the RIGHT, good God NO, because it would have to brand ALL of them!).

NONE of this in any way is meant to imply Bernie shouldn't keep on keepin' on, or that we must resign ourselves to a Hillary candidacy as the only viable option, because Bernie's message DOES need to be heard, and, if nothing else, Americans NEED HIM to influence the debate in this country. But I would really like to see media personalities that I have always considered to be more "fair" and un-partisan -- like David Letterman -- NOT follow the media herd that's going to want to make Bernie the butt of 2016's jokes.

===================

I like Bernie but don't think he could win because he's a socialist. Which is really a shame.

Now, kindly explain why you went into attack-dog mode and attributed so much bs to me.

I will vote for the nominee. Period.

Jesus Christ would be ripped to shreds (socialist! hangs with prostitutes! wants to redistribute wealth!) if he were to run.

--as long as they spell my name right."

"get the hieroglyphics right"

Letterman's job is to make jokes, for crying out loud.

Name a pol in the national news he hasn't taken a few pokes at.

I like Sanders too, but I think some gentle ribbing from late night talk show hosts is going to be the least of his worries if he becomes a serious contender for the nomination. And I'm sure he knows it.

and I'm sure he's weighing all the variables seriously before deciding. Would love to see him in the race, if only for the debates.

Completely agreed.

more from him, especially since he's about to retire, but "old dog........and all that. What a shame for him.

I don't think it's a bad thing. The more people hear about him the better. If he was obscure, there would be no jokes.

Just make sure david get his name right.

Poor Bernie! Letterman has been making fun of politicians for the last 30 years. He does it to all of them.

Letterman? Perhaps he is just another Bob Shrum or Ed Reindell slanting the table for Clinton and sees him as a potential threat to her run.

He's a comedian.

Sanders can handle a little ribbing. Whether he can win a State besides Vermont is the better question.

doesn't help so it hurts him when you ask the better question. His odds went down.

This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Letterman wouldn't give him the time of day unless he thought his audience knew who he was. Can't figure out why this is bad. A couple of people upthread try to make this about Hillary. They must have no clue in life. He has made a career off of telling Clinton and Bush jokes. Welcome to the show Bernie. It truly is a positive.

Bernie Sanders receives very limited national exposure, very limited. The top news media go to Iowa and ask him questions about Hillary because belittle his candidacy do. His only exposure on a show probably more watched than the news is jokes.

Not the same thing. I don't really know how to explain it really but I did expect it & so did Bernie probably.

"Bernie Sanders receives very limited national exposure"

I don't believe that to be true and his national exposure is only going to increase. He also promotes himself on a national level. We all know that. This is what happens. Literally thousands of links can be posted showing he is on the national stage and that even he supports that recognition. He has worked to increase his exposure. It is working. Why run from it and act like it isn't true. Bernie sure isn't. He is having success at the national level.

It is exactly the same thing. It is just new for him as his exposure increases.

If what you say is true, it would mean Bernie has been a complete failure at promoting his view on a national level. I don't believe that for a second. He has been slowly gaining recognition and has been working for a while to do so.

They watch shows like Letterman or anything else but the cable news or political links or this or that.

I'm just saying that he makes jokes of Clinton or Bush numerous times when they have massive exposure, treated as credible most of the time when the national media belittles or asks him questions about Hillary when they mention him or ask him stupid "Is it true you have Eugene Debs (pin or something like that)"? questions.

Right now Sanders is holding a solid third place behind Clinton & Biden. You know why? Because they are nationally known. Most people that are polled say they never heard of/don't know enough

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/04/20/cnnorc2016poll04202015.pdf

Letterman has every right to expect this & most supporters & Bernie Sanders expected this. I'm just not arguing it isn't the same thing as he is treated as some fringe extreme the limited times he is exposed which even now is being dwarfed by the Clinton exposure.

I never made such an assumption.

I do get your point, I am just not in full agreement. I do get the belittlement position of your point. But Bernie is on the national stage. He has worked to get himself there. He is doing a great job with it. This is completely expected from Letterman and is a positive.

It is unfortunate because he is correct on all the issues. It isn't like he is some nutbag, not even close

and is doing a comedy show. All he needs to do is be funny.

And you are being too sensitive here.

Much better for Bernie to be the latter rather than the former.

It's part of public life.

are centrists dems and they can make or break careers in the entertainment industry. These people will not step outside and support anything other than a corporate dem. You will have to live with it.

On the "News April 22" page on www.sanders.senate.gov is this link to a site that has a clip of the "Meet Bernie Sanders" segment. The summary on Bernie's website:

a bit mean. They made Bernie look silly. I don't know if he'd post that segment on his website. I admit the first night when he invoked Larry David was funny and not belittling.

Really. You're upset that a comedian makes fun of a politician?

Here's a partial list of the politicians (and related public figures) that Letterman has made jokes at the expense of over the past 33 years:

Ronald Reagan
Nancy Reagan
George HW Bush
Dan Quayle
George W Bush
Dick Cheney
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Al Gore
John McCain
Sarah Palin
Barack Obama
Joe Biden
Rick Santorum
Chris Christie
Mitt Romney

Bernie probably got a bigger boost in name recognition from being mentioned by Letterman than any one thing he's done during his campaign. And Martin O'Malley probably is praying that he finally gets to the point where he's considered viable material for a Letterman joke.

So he makes a few lighthearted jokes about Bernie Sanders. The fact is David Letterman has been an asset to Democratic Candidates.

Remember 'Great Moments In Presidential Speeches'? Where he would constantly rip Bush?

Did you catch the joke last night about how Scott Walker looks like a high school shop teacher?

Or the hypocrite of the week segment where he shows a clip of Marco Rubio making an anti- immigration speech then Dave went on to say this comes from a man whose dad immigrated from Germany and whose mom immigrated from Cuba.

There have been countless factual jokes Dave Letterman has said about the 2016 Republican Candidates and many more he has made in past elections.

So look at the bigger picture before you look down on him for making a joke about someone you like.

He's made email jokes about Hillary, hell he had Republicans calling on him to be fired over a joke he made about Sarah Palin.

The fact is it was a joke a humorous joke, not a factual joke he makes about Republicans. I am sure Bernie Sanders has a sense of humor & perhaps you should lighten up, David Letterman is a Democrat & he's on our side 9 times out of 10 when making political jokes/statements...

Letterman rags on EVERY politician. That's part of Letterman's job.