Voting status quo is insane

Voting status quo is insane

Re “It’d be insane to select Sanders” (Viewpoints, Jan. 28): Dana Milbank suggests that Democrats voting for Bernie Sanders are insane. Let’s think about that.

One definition of insanity is you do the same thing over and over, and expect a different outcome. So you tell me who’s insane. The person voting for another centrist super-PAC-fueled Democrat to continue the hollowing out of the middle class, and somehow expecting something different? Or the person voting for the only candidate refusing super PAC money, and pushing for real change that real people actually care about? Like being able to send your kids to college, like being able to see the doctor without worrying about the deductibles. Like prioritizing our own domestic infrastructure over wars in faraway places. Like fighting climate change like we mean it.

If the latter is the insane one, hand me a straitjacket, because this is one reader who is feeling the Bern.

Sanders: Define your socialism

The American people deserve more than the fake election drama that is turning our future into a reality show over Twitter. Therefore it comes as a nice surprise when we see an option like Bernie Sanders who seems like an authentic, real candidate who is not driven by fame or money.

Unfortunately many people do not know exactly what a socialist is, and Sanders needs to strictly define it if he is serious about winning the presidency. People are scared of the unknown and if they aren’t familiarized with something, we may never experience new ideas or change.

Credibility? So irrelevant today

Re “Clinton’s credibility is badly cracked” (Viewpoints, Jan. 27): I generally respect Kathleen Parker’s views but she has to get with the times. The American people long ago jettisoned “credibility” and “truthfulness” as characteristics they look for in a candidate. If you take, as a rough measure of credibility, the percentage of candidates’ statements viewed as True/Mostly True per Politifact.com, none of them impress with their veracity.

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and John Kasich at least clear the 50 percent mark, but barely. On the Republican side, there appears to be no relationship between truthfulness and standing in the polls. Donald Trump is truthful 7 percent of the time and Ted Cruz 22 percent. The moderately honest candidates are languishing in single digits. And to find Diogenes’ “honest man”? Look to Bobby Jindal (90 percent), who couldn’t even stay in the race.

Clinton, at least, had to respond to a question about her honesty. You will never hear a Fox News debate moderator challenge any Republican on theirs.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Voting status quo is insane."