"It's how the free market works..." And you just blindly accept that the drive toward monopoly is fine and that regulations and restrictions on capitalism are not in order?

Or i have i misinterpreted you? Could it be that the post is not really about capitalism but another excuse to blindly rage at someone who might actually be correct in this situation?

Trump's real reason is that he hates the owner of both Amazon and WA Post.

And he's flat out LYING about the Post Office losing money on the deal. The Post Office has been supported by the deal.

comments.

Just like eBay. If we are going to attack Amazon, we might as well start attacking Big Box stores and Supermarkets for driving mom and pop grocery stores out of business. If anything, online retailers allow small businesses to sell directly to consumers.

Sounds kinda Third Way, Man.

Link to tweet

Last edited Mon Apr 2, 2018, 10:20 PM - Edit history (1)

and moved on. Fainting couch stuff for sure.

He didn’t specifically say he supported Trump’s position on Amazon. It was nothing compared with the full-on liplock that Schumer gave Trump on imposing tariffs on China, which passed relatively unnoticed here. But, BERNIE!

Nobody is saying Amazon is perfect, but there are many companies that are bigger and some way more dangerous. Yet Bernie chose to pick on Amazon, at the same time Trump is. Not hard to make a connection.

Not even, I believe, Walmart. I'm glad Bernie is speaking out, and he is right about Amazon's impact on small businesses.

Google "Amazon warehouse deaths" to get a taste of how horrible they are. Anti-Union, anti-worker.

he did...just one of these sort of open ended 'concern' comments he makes...but a sitting Senator and president have no business criticising a private company...Bezos should sue both Sanders and Trump for their inappropriate remarks.

Until then, the first amendment prevails.

If a company abuses workers' rights, and uses unfair advantages to put small businesses out of business, they deserve every iota of criticism they get.

Sen. Sanders wants Trump voters approval and others here and elsewhere are attacking Amazon because either Sanders or Trump advocated it...none of it makes sense. Private companies should not be subject to verbal attacks on various media sites from politicians with axes to grind...you don't like Amazon's treatment of workers or other policies..legislate. Do your job. But you have no right to deliberately affect a company's bottom line which hurts stockholders by pointed criticism which may have been designed to tank the stock.

I mean, according to The Google "Amazon warehouse deaths" have supposedly been going on for some time now. Yet Bernie has ignored it all this time, until....something else happened. Like, Trump's insane rants about it, maybe? Couldn't be of course, because Bernie Cannot Be Wrong.

Who else - of a liberal bent - is speaking out about Amazon? Who would come to WALMART'S rescue when Amazon drowns them? Is Amazon going to start offering jobs to the desperate sorts who'll be jobless as the Waltons close store after store across the nation? Could Apple or Exxon cause the looming tsunami of job losses (however a shitty job they might be) that Amazon has the potential to?

Edit to add: Bernie? Turning Trump Ally? LOL. So even if Trump stumbled onto the genuine panacea for ALL that's wrong with the world, we should resist embracing that cure because we might look bad by association.

to their 'buy cheap from China policy'? Every post I see that criticizes Amazon is from a self identified Sanders supporter which is fine. But it just doesn't make sense to single out Amazon.

WTF

Tell me you're kidding.

For 17 years i read post after post castigating WalMart for being way too big, way too dominant, and way too predatory.

Now, Amazon is doing to big retail what WalMart did to small retail, and as long as Bernie is concerned, we're all on the side of monolithic big business?

What memo did i miss?

I won't read any further on this thread.

Before OR after Trunce?

....went on national television and condemned the very company he's deeply involved with (i.e., sells three books through them and has his own "page" on Amazon)

To my knowledge only two people bashed them recently.

What is this supposed to mean? Do you seriously think set up or maintains that page?

Seriously. You must be kidding with this.


https://www.amazon.com/Barack-Obama/e/B001H6OA8E/ref=ntt_aut_sim_4_2


https://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Warren/e/B001HD310U/ref=ntt_aut_sim_4_1


https://www.amazon.com/Carl-Bernstein/e/B00O1YKYW0/ref=ntt_aut_sim_2_1


https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton/e/B000APZ9VU/ref=ntt_aut_sim_4_1


https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Clinton/e/B001H6W1K8/ref=ntt_aut_sim_3_1

https://www.amazon.com/Robert-B.-Reich/e/B000AQ51FI/ref=ntt_aut_sim_3_2

https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-King/e/B000AQ0842/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1522699557&sr=1-2-ent

https://www.amazon.com/J.-K.-Rowling/e/B000AP9A6K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1522699640&sr=1-2-ent


and on and on and on...

...bashed Amazon on national television? 6? 5? 4? .......1?

We're not talking in general about politicians or anyone selling items on Amazon, there's nothing wrong with that. We're talking about someone bashing Amazon at the same time he's making money from Amazon.

You don't find that a little bit odd?

So Amazon makes pages for prominent people/authors. It's just what they do and it's a ridiculous thing to try to make a big deal about.

..but he's perfectly happy with making money from Amazon.

The other point is that none of those other people, as far as I know, went on television to criticize Amazon.

I'm not. It's a ridiculous non-issue.

And what makes you think he, or any author, would be able to get books off of there anyway? It's not that easy.

it's Bernie. The guy that refuses to wear the "team" jersey, but plays a better game than the "star" players.

Should not support this sort of behavior. Not one damn thing was done about Walmart because there is no solution when a company out thinks their competitors and becomes huge. It is not a monopoly.

It's a sad sort of "me too" thing.

Bernie could walk across the reflecting pond of the Capital mall - wave one hand and cure every case of cancer on Earth - and render ALL the weapons of the world, instantly inert - and the rousing cry would be.... "YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THIS YEARS AGO???"

....but he's in Washington doing the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows.

His counterpart in Vermont, Pat Leahy, was in Brussels late last week meeting with NATO leaders.

If you were from Vermont, you would know that - unlike in many other states - anyone who makes an effort at all can talk to their mayor, the 2 Senators and the Congressman.

PS He was in Vermont on March 24, the day of the gun control marches -- he and Peter Welch (and Burlington's mayor, Weinberger) all went, but intentionally did not speak. Bernie went up at the end, with Welch - to cheers which he waved off - to speak to the kids who had spoken, much to their obvious delight. He did not speak to the crowd.

By the way, the main reason he was there was to speak of the VA. He is fighting the Trump/Koch effort to privatize the VA. On each show, he was asked of other things. In Vermont, we pay sales tax on Amazon purchases - per an agreement with the state and Amazon.

Lotsa folks would rather let their gut talk than their noggin.

It's just so BS

And Amazon IS getting too big!

So here, I sided with Trump. Post my comment in the Late Breaking News section, please! Or delete the one about Bernie. I don't see how my opinion on the subject is any more or less valuable than his. Or Trump's.

My point: let's quit talking about media personalities and stick to issues.

foolish.

does.

From coal to retail, Trump has sold a bill of goods to people longing for the country to return to what it was in the 70's and 80's.

Where Bernie Sanders has gone wrong is acting as if Trump is 'right' about Amazon, thereby normalizing Trump's rather dangerous complaints. He should know, and he probably does, that Trump doesn't give a sht about "bricks-and-mortar" stores or small business-- after all, he was personally responsible for many small business bankruptcies by his developments and his refusal to pay bills.

Trump wants to hurt Jeff Bezos, why? First, because he is jealous of an actual successful businessperson who invented a company rather than inheriting it.
And second, of course. Bezos owns the Washington Post, which reports on Trump.

I cannot imagine that Sanders is too stupid to know that Trump is only going after Amazon because its founder now owns a media outlet critical of Trump.

So why is he doing this?

And while Amazon-critics have some good points, books-and-mortar stores have been on death's door for generations. Barnes and Noble was said to have killed the independent bookstore, before Amazon was even invented.

Walmart, which is probably the real "victim" of Amazon (and yet remains enormously profitable), was supposed to be the death knell for small business.

IOW, Amazon is just the latest suspect. And that ignores the reality that Amazon has enabled thousands of small businesses and creative people to sell to markets they could never reach before. (I'm an author, and I know-- the "monopoly" was actually the publishing industry before Amazon, where access to customers and bookstores was quite literally restricted mostly to only those the big publishers allowed. There was a "pipeline" to the bookstores controlled by big publishers and big distributors, and almost no writer could put together a long career. Now, we all sell our books through Amazon, which takes a much smaller cut and provides much greater access. I am one small businessperson among thousands who would not have a business without Amazon as the middleman.)

Criticize Amazon if you want to-- goodness knows, there are faults. But joining in with a completely disingenuous campaign to damage a company because Trump is angry that the Washington Post reports on him? Nah. That's pernicious, frankly. Let's not be stupid and complicit with Trump.

Is Amazon getting big to consider anti-trust? Yeah, they are on that path.

But what is Trump's beef with that? Why would he care? This is the guy who's doubling down on the dying industry of coal and doing everything he can to make it easy for polluters to pollute and poison us all. This is also the same guy who's taking apart all consumer protections he can, so why is he suddenly concerned about monopolies? He isn't. He's got a personal beef with Bezos owning the WaPo and wants Bezos to make the WaPo be a nice happy paper sexing Trump's ego daily like Fox News does. This is all about Trump having more masturbation material and nothing to do with monopolies and anti-trust issues.

I finally understand the weather-vane pejorative used with so much self-satisfaction last year.

Ironically, this revelation was brought to me by the very ones who thought its use clever.

I still think it's an half-witted sentiment however, regardless of its applications on the left. But now I understand.

day after day after day. If you can't see or understand the difference between what nonsense trump spewed and what Bernie said then , whatever. Get the fuck over it already please.

Trump's attacks legitimacy. It is not an attack.

Don't fucking help him. Then all Trump hears is "Bernie Sanders! He agrees with me!" Trump has ulterior motives and it has nothing to do with the poor postal workers. He could give two shits for anyone. And then you have Bernie out there agreeing with him for ALL THE WRONG REASONS.

And if Trump wants to attack Amazon for putting brick and mortar stores out of business then why didn't he mention WALMART???? That behemoth has done more to shutter brick and mortar stores than Amazon ever has.

Bernie is not helping here.

matches it's twin thread....the one posted earlier with several hundred replies.Lots of Vermont/Sanders experts on that one too.

Come to Vermont, hang out on most any urban or rural street. Interview 25 or 100 random people about their thoughts on Bernie Sanders. While you're at it, count the Bernie bumper stickers and signs....in stores, on barns, in yards.

Bernie's position on Amazon is one that can be heard around Vermont. Visit an Independent bookstore and see what the owner(s) and customers say about it. Talk with Mom and Pop store owners.

Lots of Vermonters support buying local, shopping small. It's a very big deal here. So, thank you, Senator Sanders.

Last edited Tue Apr 3, 2018, 02:20 AM - Edit history (1)

...on immigration, Russia, trade and now attacks on Amazon.

Hey, maybe it is just a coincidence that Bernie singles out Amazon just as the President decides to do so, but it is starting to get weird.

It was an answer to a direct question from Jake Tapper about Amazon in light of Trump’s comments. There was no “singling out” of Amazon.

Moreover, he said Congress should take a look at Amazon’s power and influence. It would be a dereliction of duty not to. By 2020, half of all Internet searches will be conducted by voice; would you like to know how Alexa already handles product searches? Would it bother you if half the answers it gives are Amazon private label products? Is resistance futile?

Is he dumb or dishonest? When Tapper asked the question, he should have strongly called out Trump and said that he thinks that Trump is mainly attacking Amazon because he is trying to get the Washington Post to shut up.

Then, if Bernie made a general statement that Congress should look into helping workers displaced by technological changes such as online shopping, then that would be fine. Instead, Bernie appears to validate Trump's attacks.

So, either Bernie is naive about Trump. Or, he is being dishonest and trying to give a dog whistle to Trump supporters.

That seems to happen a lot with sen Sanders. Now, the characterization you've inserted in herr to " clarify" his remarks ... does he know anything about those, and if so, why didn't he say anything himself?

Very strange how so many people just rewrite what the man says to put it into a better light when he fumbles. Answering a direct question is something many object to, when someone other than Bernie does it. I recall John Lewis being slammed for doing the very same thing.

Let Bernie explain himself, that's what all of our elected should be doing, if this much editing is required perhaps that's not such a good thing.

The statement that he singled out Amazon is pure, unadulterated bullshit.

And he did not say the things you mentioned, not does he know what they are.

He is not terribly good at answering questions. There is no denying that. And his statement was made on the record, proving he did just that. Why dent it? He's just a politician, an established one at that, they make mistakes like every other human. Why draw unpleasant battlelines over his poor response?

When you respond to a question about Company A with a statement about Company A, you are not singling them out.

As for his media skills, quite right, he gets nailed by diversionary headlines all the time that a more scripted politician would avoid. The media knows he is a divisive figure among Democrats so they are quite happy to shine a light on that whenever possible and too many Democrats play right along, even when there’s no there there. Or especially, as in this case.

You are actually, especially if the issue is not unique to that company. Did he mention any other? No. Thus claiming that he did not single out a company is incredibly, unbelievably wrong.

It's not a media skills thing, he genuinely does not know what he is being asked about or why. He gets correctly nailed fir continually failing to grasp the basics and saying things that his fans then have to edit, as they attack anyone who points out that what he said us indeed what he's being noted as saying.

He keeps putting his foot in his mouth when more prepared, more informed politicians would know better, while this failing is applauded as being genuine and non scripted, when it's genuine cluelessness and a lack of paying attention to the basics. He has a script, and Hendricks to it rather than figuring out what's going on and thoughtfully addressing what's going on and what's being asked. It's a long standing fault with him.

There is a there there, and why does he keep playing along if he is such a divisive figure as you say. When you say things on camera, as an elected you should expect to be held accountable for them. Not sure why that is so difficult or why so many are so offended when he once again opens mouth inserts foot and is rightly called out for that.

Doesn’t sound like it. I am done trying to explain what singling out means to grown adults.

PS: I am not a Bernie fan. I am a sanity fan. And the reaction here to this innocuous answer is just as insane as the response to his decision to accept an invitation from the Mayor of Jackson to talk about economic justice there tomorrow. I look forward to the predictably hysterical gnashing of teeth that will result over one answer or another that isn’t completely at odds with something Donald Trump said once.

motives for attacking Amazon, as he has no qualms attacking Democrats by insinuating they don’t fight for the working man, etc. and other untruths. His failure there speaks volumes.

Great post, agreed totally.

Let's not be silly. Though Trump is a xenophobic, fascist blowhard, he's not wrong that Amazon should pay taxes.

In this instance, it's not that Bernie Sanders is meeting Trump's policy...it's that Trump, in his usual bumbling fashion, just happened to say ONE correct thing and is meeting Bernie Sanders in calling for fair taxation. Bernie's always been about taxing the 1% fairly.

If you swing 50 punches, you're bound to hit one...and Trump just hit one...he's failed in everything else.

Given his condition, he's probably gonna backtrack on this in half an hour...