The Washington Post Continues Its Bernie Bashing

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

19 January 16

he Washington Post continues to pretend it’s running news stories about the election, which are only thinly-veiled opinion columns upholding the Washington establishment’s views against the likes of Bernie Sanders. See, for example, today's column by David Fahrenthold, below.

I’ve already rebutted one of David Fahrenthold’s Bernie bashes. Fahrenthold makes many of the same charges today but also claims (1) Bernie hasn’t indicated how his single-payer healthcare idea would be cheaper than the current system (Fahrenthold conveniently ignores the large number of studies showing single-payer to be cheaper); (2) Bernie’s other policies would give the federal government “a new level of control” over colleges, prescription drugs, and child care (Fahrenthold thereby equates any public benefit with government control – one of the oldest right-wing memes in the conservative playbook); (3) Bernie’s ideas would be dead-on-arrival in a Republican-controlled congress (probably so -- which is why we must end Republican control); and, more generally, (4) Bernie’s “political revolution” amounts to “vast new government-funded benefits.”

This last allegation reveals the obtuseness of the reporting by Fahrenthold, the Washington Post, and much of the mainstream media. They don’t understand what Bernie means by a “political revolution.” It doesn't mean more government-funded benefits. It means a government that works for the many rather than the few – a government that’s not in the pockets of Washington’s corporate and Wall Street patrons. It means an end to the vicious cycle of wealth and power that has rigged the market to the benefit of those who make giant campaign contributions, hire platoons of lobbyists and lawyers, create their own “think tanks” and other propaganda machines, and even buy the Washington Post.

What do you think?