Debunking Hillary's Stickiest Memes-- Tried & Tested, and Gets Things Done

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Hillary has a few talking points or memes that seem to stick better than others, for her followers and which her surrogates parrot on the mainstream media networks where Hillary is shilled for 24-7.

I've been debunking them with tweets. This article will go beyond 140 characters to demolish the claims.

I've never bought Hillary's "tried and tested" claims. And from the way she and her surrogates have responded to Bernie Sanders' relatively mild messaging, you'd think the sky had fallen. They're attacking Bernie for destroying party unity, using irresponsible claims... This is nothing compared to what any GOP candidate will throw at her, with their decades of accumulating oppo research.

The truth is Hillary has huge negatives that prove that she has been tried and tested and she failed horribly, that all the trials have taken a devastating, massively damaging toll on her electability. And, like the scorpion in the tale of the frog and the scorpion, it is her nature to continue to behave in a way that makes such a huge percentage of the population hate and distrust her. She has failed miserably at her tried and tested efforts.

During the first Democratic debate, Hillary said,

"I'm a progressive, but I'm a progressive that wants to get things done."

This is half of the meme, the other half being that Bernie believes in unicorns, ie., he is unrealistic and can't deliver on his promises. Hillary has been very, very effective at getting this message to stick. It's probably the strongest message cited by Hillary supporters, who even go so far as to say, "I like Bernie, but he's too idealistic. Hillary will get things done."

But does she get things done. The answer is yes. The problem is what she gets done. I've cited a number of her accomplishments:

James Kroeger, in his Dailykos article, Hillary's Empty Claim That She Can Get Things Done, points out that what she gets done helps Republicans:

Hillary Clinton is given lately to describing herself as a Progressive who can get things done.

But if you actually look at her record, it is difficult to confirm that she has any kind of ability at all to get things done for average Americans. Her failure to get universal health care for the American people in 1993-4 immediately comes to mind.

Elizabeth Warren has told the story of how Hillary switched from opposing legislation that would hurt women to later supporting it. Hillary's response to the implicit accusation that she switched her support from a progressive position to a pro-banker position is informative:

...And it was Vice President Biden, who was the senator from Delaware,and the Republican co-sponsor that I was talking with, so I said I'd support it even though I'd opposed it before.

This, my friends, is an example of how Hillary has gotten things done in the past. She meets with the Republican opposition---in this case the Republican co-sponsor of the bill that hurts women---and then decides to vote for the Republicans' proposals.

You see, the problem with her claim that she gets things done, is that the only things she has been able to get done with her compromises is things that Republicans---and The Oligarchy---want.

She has never demonstrated any ability to gets things done for average Americans over the stubborn opposition of Republicans.

Next let's deal with the Bernie can't get things done Unicorn story.

First, as Kroeger has pointed out, Hillary has a terrible history dealing with a Republican congress. On the other hand, Bernie Sanders has a history of getting more amendments through committee than anyone. He's worked across the aisle with Republicans producing legislation that was truly bi-partisan.

But as president, Bernie will be able to do things that Hillary would never do. He can replace agency heads who Obama appointed who have deep ties to big corporations with genuine advocates for reform. For example, get rid of former big Pharma, Monsanto and other corporate lobbyists and executives with heads of organizations that seek to make the environment safer or who advocate for consumers. Hillary will not do this. She'll walk in Obama's footsteps.

Bernie can appoint finance advisors like Paul Sachs, who also advises Pope Francis and Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, or visionary economics thinkers like Gar Alperovitz and David Korten. He might even appoint public Banking advocates Ellen Brown or Mike Krause, who have been working to get states and cities to do what North Dakota has had for almost a century.

Bernie can do this very quickly, putting together a circle of advisors and appointing people who don't need confirmation right away. It is very likely that Bernie's coattails, with his strong youth, independent and even Republican support, will broadly carry down ticket candidates, far better than high-negative Hillary. He'll very likely have a Democrat controlled senate, so he'll be able to get his agency appointees quickly through congress. They'll be able to start cleaning up the agencies that have been lobbyist influenced for 16 years. Hillary will owe all those lobbyists. (If there's another debate, I'd like to see questions about appointing lobbyists and past corporate execs posed to both candidates.)

Can Bernie make a difference for Black Lives matter right away. Absolutely. He can appoint a DOJ Attorney General who sets policies that protect people from rogue police. He can pardon people from federal prisons. I don't know. Can he pardon anyone in jail? If so, he could pardon thousands in jail for Marijuana possession.

Can Bernie get Medicare for all? I doubt it will happen at once. But he can facilitate it. In Canada, it started with one province. In the US, it could start with one state, maybe Vermont, maybe California. Knowing that the president WANTS IT, some state legislatures and governors will be more motivated to try.

Can Bernie get free tuition for public colleges and universities? It might take two more years into his presidency for the Bernie revolution to win the House. Then, anything is possible.

When you're debunking these Hillary talking points, don't forget to remind your target (hopefully undecideds, don't bother with Hillbots) that Bernie, in just about every poll, beats the Republicans by a lot bigger margins than Hillary.