You know the situation is serious when "even" an avowed socialist worries about government spending.
Here's a clip of Democrat congressman Peter Welch of Vermont on Ed Schultz's radio show Monday talking about the looming battle over the debt ceiling (audio) --
WELCH: And Mr. Cantor is saying that this is the leverage moment, whether we pay our bills, whether we say we're going to do what we're required to do, is a leverage moment. Well, you and I both know that there is a vast divide between the Ryan-Cantor budget and the Obama-Democratic budget ...
SCHULTZ: No question about it ...
WELCH: ... so can we, should be put our policy arguments in our holster for awhile to do the right thing on the debt limit?
SCHULTZ: Well, do you think this report by Standards (sic) & Poor's is going to change the attitude of some in Congress?
WELCH: No, it won't, because it really serves, it's not about the urgency of the problem. In fact, both sides know that. I mean, look at Dick Durbin in the Senate. He's a solid progressive legislator. And even, and Bernie Sanders, I mean, he will acknowledge we got to get our fiscal house in order. But they will say, rightly, that we've got to put everything on the table ...
In other words, even another left-winger from the magic kingdom known as Vermont sees Sanders as fulminating from the fringe. This is akin to Lawrence O'Donnell saying that "even" his MSNBC colleague Ed Schultz knows bellicose buffoonery won't carry an argument indefinitely.
Sanders does serve the amusing purpose, however, of inducing poorly-concealed reverence on the part of many in the media, mainly from those unwilling to acknowledge their delayed-adolescent enthusiasm for socialism.
Welch also makes the unfortunate gaffe of mispronouncing "Ann" Rand, an all-too-common occurrence by her critics that reveals their habit of discussing Rand's work only with other people who revile her (audio) --
WELCH: There's a philosophy underlying their point of view and that is that basically, everybody's on their own. You know, you're on your own. You're a senior, you know, figure it out. You're a company, figure it out. We'll take government out of everything and we'll take common effort, shared sacrifice, shared opportunity out of everything and leave it up to you. I mean, it's, you know, it's the Ayn Rand 'Fountainhead' philosophy that motivates them.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WELCH: You know, America is self-reliant but what we know is that when we've been at our best, it's self-reliant individuals who also have a community civic spirit and understand that we've got to create institutions in order to be successful, whether it be a financial system that works for average people, banks, or a military even ...
Again with the "even" ...
On his radio show yesterday, Schultz oddly referred to Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist, as "liberal" (audio) --
(Sen.) Durbin said that he would be, he wouldn't, he wouldn't be signing onto a Sense of the Senate Resolution by Bernie Sanders, a liberal who caucuses with Democrats, saying that the (Social Security) benefits should not be cut!
Three explanations come to mind for this. First, Schultz doesn't know Sanders is a Marxist. Second, more likely, Schultz is well aware and chooses to downplay it. Third, most likely of all, Schultz sees no difference between his views and those espoused by Sanders, a fellow "liberal."
