what he did was ugly - and..

He should have listed some of the great things Sanders has done. The fact that he did not take this opportunity to praise Sanders shows that he is still doing the ugly thing. He has had time to put together a thoughtful response and he FAILED.

and, I really like your sig line

And he needs to go talk to Ben Jealous about supporting Hillary. I have no doubt she will be good with civil rights when it doesn't conflict with her corporate agenda first.

he is going to have to live with himself

Vote hillary - you get a two fer - Kissinger comes free

Here's the video of his comments, with the question about Sanders starting around 1:06

Last edited Sat Feb 13, 2016, 06:12 PM - Edit history (2)

Edited to add that I give him the benefit of the doubt due to the off-the-cuff nature of the response. Perhaps more time for thought might have resulted in a different response.

Lewis said he's met, which sound like he met them during that time in the civil rights movement. Bernie, who was actively involved in the civil rights movement, Lewis said he never saw him involved and has never met him. Wow!

I have a lot of respect for John Lewis and his involvement in the civil rights movement and I will continue to have respect for his past. Now, in the present, I lost some respect for him as a politician. Why did he choose to go down this path? Why did he say things like that about Bernie? It's well known that Bernie was actively involved in civil rights, but Lewis insinuated that Sanders was not involved. What a shame to see such an icon use insinuations against a strong presidential candidate.

endorsed Hillary. They won't go against their pac because they will lose the money.

Watch Min 34 to see who their pac is - including lobbyist for Oxycontin, lobbyist student loan giant, newport tobacco and cigar lobbyist and lobbyist for philip morris, and wallmart lobbyist, and a bunch more.

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/12/who_endorsed_hillary_clinton_the_congressional

That PAC is getting money from lobbyists and the man she was interviewing says they're not corrupt. Yeah right! If you're not corrupted by lobbyists money, then don't try to convince people that they're you're corrupt. Otherwise you look corrupt.

Thanks for the link to the video, trillion.

But I met Bill and Hillary...leaving the impression that they has something to do with the civil rights movement?

And there are many people that will not un-hear that.

These are examples of how politicians "walk back" statements. They've had plenty of models before them, so it's not like they don't what they're leaving out, which, OF COURSE, would be half-assed clarified.

Lewis has lost my respect, and I'll correct every fucking person who has not "un-heard" that when I have to.

Yes indeed. There will be people going to the polls who heard the original smear against Bernie, but not the "clarification".
And this is typical. The smear story is on page 1. The retraction is on page 8.
This is obviously a net loss for Bernie. As it was intended to be.

This Clarification was made on Representative John Lewis' Behalf.

Please, tell us more about these "agendas."

pass off your bullshit statements as "misinterpreted." Let's double down on insulting the electorate! Frankly I would have much preferred silence from Mr. Lewis than this bullshit "clarification."

Lewis knows exactly what he said, and he knows exactly what he was inferring. The problem is, so does everyone else. Unfortunately for him, the mass of people aren't as stupid as the Clinton organization thinks they are.

For a man with Lewis' record to have sullied himself this way is just sad.

... about trying to read people's minds. There are few Bernie supporters more ardent and steadfast than myself – I've met and spoken with the man, and he interceded at my request on behalf of a neighbor's veteran son – but I take John Lewis at his word, even if I do think his support is misplaced. Anyone with rudimentary skills in arithmetic knows that Lewis could not have met the Clintons during the height of the Civil Rights struggle; in 1962 Hillary would have been 14 (her birthday's late in the year) and still a Republican, insofar as a child can have any political affiliation.

This is all in the lap of Darren Sands and his mischaracterization of Lewis' remarks. But note that no one from Fortress Hillary has come forward to correct the record. Big surprise.

I saw and heard the clip. The way the statement was put, I had the impression Bill and Hill were out there organizing the Freedom Riders while Bernie was nowhere to be seen.

... Sands' tweets that really lit a fire under this brouhaha? THAT'S what I'm talking about. There can be no question in anyone's mind that Sands was interjecting his interpretation of the crowd's mood.

I stand by my previous statement.

I'm not big on twitter but I'll go see

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he got lost in the moment and had a chance to rethink it when he was able to review his remarks and see the implications he was making that maybe he didn't TOTALLY intend. I do quite a bit of public speaking and it is actually pretty easy to be pulled off your intended points.

this isn't about him endorsing clinton over bernie he can endorse whoever he wants.that is democracy.the issue is him taking part in clintons attempt to swiftboat bernie.He was trying to impley bernie didn't do anything on civil rights but the clintons did.

As achivist in 1960's he deserves respect but as politican in 2016 he hurt himself.

change his disparaging remarks. No one will hear the clarification.

I agree. John Lewis' implication was clear by the tone of his voice. He was trying to imply bernie didn't do anything during the civil rights movement but the clintons did. Very probable he didn't recognize Bernie at any protests. Bernie was all of 21 years old and a student activist. Why would he recognize him? But to say he saw the Clintons there? She is at least 5 years younger than Bernie, wasn't with Bill yet, wasn't even a Democrat yet. I think he is going to take a lot of heat for that very poorly thought out comment.
And the pleased smiling faces of the Clinton supporters flanking him was pretty discouraging. Where was Hillary Clinton after this comment to set the record straight?

I KNEW that weasel, Darren Sands, was distorting Lewis' words and intentions! John Lewis is too good a man to be party to such dishonest skullduggery.

It's pretty obvious it was wasted on the Bernie Believers.

I'm sure as hell not for Her.

and I thought this was all BS, and said so yesterday. Lewis is a good man who deserves respect, and it is entirely possible that he didn't meet Bernie at the time, or, like me (I am bad with names), didn't recall him

The fact is you and the clintonistas tried to swiftboat bernie before the milwaukie debate.

I noticed nothing on the FBI statement about the investigation that came out the day before.

Do they really think the Republicans are going to play ignore the elephant in the room should she steal the nomination?

New Hampshire Democratic primary voters said that honesty was the most important trait in their decision on which candidate to support. Of that bloc, Sanders won 92 percent of their votes as compared to just 6 percent for Clinton.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/10/hillary-clinton-has-a-major-honesty-problem-after-new-hampshire/?tid=a_inl

in the Clinton camp that is not completely full sh!t?

I thought I could get away with making up stupid shit like Hillary does.

running Nastiness Workshops?

Some of you folks are doing his effort more harm than good.

Veterans For Peace

If some of his supporters on DU are not quick to excuse Rep. Lewis for the obvious swiftboat attempt, I think it's understandable. Nastiness? Perhaps some comments are nasty. I see plenty of comments on both sides of this and other issues. Have you directed any posts like this toward the HRC campaign? Just asking.

from the HRC worshiper group for questioning what she
did in Honduras - where I spent some time challenging the empire,
and brought back a Honduran exchange student who lived with
us for a year.

You know, you do Bernie's cause no good at all by presuming that
anyone with whom you might disagree is a bad person.

Come on, tell us all about your stellar peace and justice record.

I also question where you got your ESP powers that tell you when I'm presuming something.

Were you 'presuming' that Bernie's campaign has nastiness seminars? Of course not; you were asking a question. I answered it with my perspective on the question. I also asked you if you were even-handed. Your answer tells me that you are. The overreaction is on you. I presume it didn't come from a seminar, you just got offended.

I think it's a good thing you did with the Honduran student BTW. Me saying that to you is a small part of my 'stellar peace and justice record'. Sheesh.

but seriously, Bernie is really good at not losing it . .
He knows that him losing it is just what the other side wants.

In fact, he even lets HRC get away with interrupting, knowing I guess
that she loses support every time she speaks.

We should try to emulate Bernie in that respect.

Angry people are not persuasive people.

All the best to you.

I'm some of you folks so tell me how the fuck I'm being disingenuous. I trust Bernie Sanders 100%, I don't trust Hillary 100%, Pretty simple where I come from. So talk to me, tell me where I'm going off the rails here.

I've been in the peace & justice biz for 45 years, and I've learned
that the angry types make very poor organizers, and usually
burn out quickly.

Debs, above, with his ". . bullshit failed smear . ." talk
harms Bernie by turning off potential supporters.

Veterans For Peace [also a founding member, 1982, of the Democratic Socialists of America; anti-apartheid, Central America, Iraq War, Minimum wage, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and more]

I'm here almost every day and many of those days all day and I don't see them.

Projection is what I do see a lot of but not from Bernie supporters though. Just like this OP is/was.

Hillary simply can't talk about issues as there isn't much for her to talk about that appeals to the masses so they're reduced to projection, again such as this op is

facts and truths are all I'm interested in and thats why I'm a big Sanders supporter.

the nearest fainting couch upon hearing some honest and heated words.

And for what it's worth, I have a Masters in Peace & Global Studies.

And also for what else it's worth, it was a bullshit failed smear.

Your classes in small group commo, and negotiation
surely must have taught you to put a sock in it.

Is your goal to persuade or score points?

If it is the only latter, you're doin' great.

I feel an Op-ed coming on . .

I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. As far as goals are concerned, mine is to speak my mind. I'm not the least interested in persuading anyone of anything.

You were the one who threw out that masters degree. You went there.

So I guess you post here just to vent?

If that is the case, why should anyone bother to read them?

And let me repeat, you are doing damage to the political revolution
with your overtly hostile attitude.

Peace Studies? Really? How did you pass?

some people are just naturally assholes. I don't believe Bernie or Hillary would like what some of their most ardent supporters here do

Bernie are a few very unhinged types.

To say he wouldn't underestimates his intelligence or his preferred candidate.

I would really like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Lewis is friends with the Clintons so his bias is obvious. I'm just disappointed with the swiftboating quality of what he did.

I just watched the video posted here, and I believe this is an accurate transcript.

from the video that is the sense i get too. the wording - he obviously met Sanders at some point after 1966, and he also met Bill and Hillary at some point after 1966 but not during 1963-66 -- and not in the context implied.

as for the video and the sense and then the retraction, as with several of these retractions lately, i am getting tired of getting pissed on and told it's raining.

not to diminish Lewis' great contributions just because of this one statement.

don't be telling me its raining while you're pissing down my leg. I know the difference and know the smell of piss real well

Bernie will be proud of Lewis's Thank You

But I regard it as reversing an obvious implication, not "clarifying."

and what he said was being taken out of context as seems to be the case around here sometimes.

Thank you John Lewis for setting the record straight and thank you LiberalElite for bring this here to us.
I was never worried that the truth would come out even though some here were in doubt
I'm going to say right up front. I'm voting for Bernie Sanders and Tuesday I'm going to a local meeting to find out how I can help his campaign. I'll vote for Hillary if I have to but it will be a have too case. I trust Bernie Sanders to be on my side on the issues that matter to me. I trust Hillary to not be there for me. Emphasis on the NOT.

Rep. Lewis replied:"I never saw him. I never met him," Lewis, a close ally of King's, said of Sanders..."I was chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years, from 1963 to 1966," Lewis said. "I was involved with the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, the march from Selma to Montgomery [Alabama] and directed [the] voter education project for six years. But I met Hillary Clinton. I met President [Bill] Clinton."

The period Rep. Lewis refers to covers events that took place in the 60s. By his own account he never met either of the Clintons before Bill Clinton launched his political career in Arkansas in the mid-1970s.

I'm disappointed.

But all the name calling hysteria from the Bern Bros. helps nothing.

He said what he said, he got flack for it, and he had to clarify his comments. If he had no flack, there would be no clarification.

For sure, but lets make it polite flack.

Veterans For Peace

And a good man. I am glad he did the right thing. As for his strange bedfellows....

far too many people read to many things into his words.

Most folks won't remember his clarification.
And it won't get the news coverage that his smear of Bernie got.

Biographers won't be able to ignore the original, ill-considered statement.

Any other questions? LOL

“I was responding to a reporter’s question who asked me to assess Sen. Sanders’ civil rights record. I said that when I was leading and was at the center of pivotal actions within the Civil Rights Movement, I did not meet Sen. Bernie Sanders at any time. The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Sen. Sanders participated in the Civil Rights Movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism.

at best and with intent to damage at worst.

If he had any question about Sanders' involvement "within the Civil Rights Movement," he could have phoned Sanders' Senate office and discussed the matter with Sanders personally. If Sanders was campaigning his Senate staff could likely reach him very quickly and convey Lewis' message to call.

Lewis and Sanders both serve in the 114th Congress. I'm guessing all members of the Congress are issued a phone directory of others' offices.

face it we have been Roved about race , gender and age recently .