The Truth About Sanders' Cold War Comments Is Too Complicated for Cable News

[Billsmile]

David Corn article in Mother Jones:

His trips to Cuba, Nicaragua, and the Soviet Union in the 1980s and his statements back then about conditions in those countries have come under scrutiny, with Sanders’ political foes and pundits pushing a blunt message: lefty Sanders was soft on commie dictators.

Sanders, like many progressives at the time, was looking to make connections in the countries targeted by the Reaganauts and create a citizens’ foreign policy. He was attempting to subvert those Reagan policies that exacerbated conflict, intensified the arms race, contributed to violence and human rights abuses, and financed wars.

Looking to diminish the tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States with people-to-people diplomacy was commendable. In these endeavors, Sanders was on the right side of history. But as with some on the left, Sanders did not focus on the anti-democratic foundations of the Soviet Union and Cuba, in part because the Cold Warriors themselves were already demonizing these societies in war-mongering fashion. Consequently, Sanders is now vulnerable to slashing and simplistic attacks that depict him as a sucker for lefty dictators.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/the-truth-about-sanders-cold-war-comments-is-too-complicated-for-cable-news/