In a turn of events that will surprise 0% of people who understand how #BernieSanders fits in the dynamics of the American political system, he has declined to endorse #AbolishICE.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/06/24/sotu-sanders-ice.cnn

#SocialImperialism

@mattcropp @gingerrroot I'm morbidly fascinated about how the few Bernie fans I see on here will spin this

@nev @gingerrroot

I mean, I immensely respect a lot of what he's done (he's my Senator, so I have a granular sense of his political career from up close), but there's no denying the niche he's carved out for himself can get super problematic & disappointing.

Like when he opposed a blockade of a Gatling Gun factory in #btv by the peace movement in the 1980s because "those are union jobs!"

@mattcropp @gingerrroot *head explodes*

@nev @gingerrroot #SocialImperialism's all about ensuring the spoils of the empire are widely distributed in the Imperial Center, but failing to challenge the logic of empire itself. The former's w/i the bounds of respectable discourse in American politics, the latter's not.

In the late 1970s, Bernie realized this and made the choice to make a run *just within* those bounds (much to the chagrin of erstwhile allies), and did surprisingly well...

@gingerrroot @nev Since then until he passed away recently, one of #Bernie's closest allies/friends in the '70s, #PeterDiamondstone, made a point of running against him from the left every election as a reminder of that compromise...

https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2017/08/31/dogged-leftist-candidate-peter-diamondstone-dies

Video of them debating Middle East policy in the 1990 election that first got Bernie into Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWHpJyucwm0&t=1s