I find it hard to believe there’s rampant abuse of federal disability. It’s notoriously hard to get, and most people need to try multiple times over years before they are approved. These are the people who are ultimately approved, so they do qualify. The only person I’ve ever known who got it on the first…

Hodo79, I disagree with you on basically everything you said except your stats. Entitlement reform may be coming, but it’s going to meet with some strong, widespread opposition. Income inequality in the US is as severe as in the 1920s, the middle class is disappearing, and there’s a point where the majority of people…

Suing in hopes we’ll forget all the other reasons Hillary lost in 2016.

I would like to think Wendy Wasserstein would be wildly entertained by this, if she were still with us. It’s hard to see it as anything other than insulting, though.

Bernie’s a sexist? Evidence, please. And not that he ran against a woman (unless that’s all you’ve got).

I was responding to your dismissal of their relationship as “nothing more than NYC socialite glad-handing”. But as far as his sexual abuse record, it was an open secret in the film industry, and she spent enough time hobnobbing there. Even if she didn’t run across it herself, her campaign people should have warned…

In fact, from 1999 to 2016, Weinstein donated $21,400 directly to Clinton, nearly $33,600 to the Hillary Clinton Victory fund, and $15,000 to HillPAC. Almost $70 grand there, not counting what he gave to other organizations that supported her. He was also a “bundler” for the Dems to the tune of $1.4 million. He…

What do you mean, “back to the plantation”? There’s a racial overtone, but it’s not clear what that’s about. I’ve only seen it in a racist context, addressed to African Americans. Please explain.

Another clever, less risky idea would have been to articulate a vision for what America would look like for ordinary people under a Clinton administration. Not “go to my website”. Not “break the glass ceiling”. Not “pour money into Silicon Valley entrepreneurship”. But “you’ll be able to send your kids to college,…

I’m going to assume you mean Democratic candidates rather than pro-DNC candidates” but I think I’d better check. The DNC is not the party, although they think they are. It’s a small staff employing a bunch of high paid consultants who want to keep their money rolling in, no matter who wins. If you mean we should put…

I don’t agree with your use of “exploit” and “weaponize,” but we probably don’t agree on other things either. Your point, as I understand it, is that Sanders wanted either to destroy the party or was making a cynical power grab. I would argue that he was representing a huge constituency inside the party and possibly…

Yes! And the rift in the party didn’t just start in Obama’s term. It goes back decades to at least the first Bill Clinton campaign, when the DLC and the Third Way strategy took over and the party leadership made an extreme right turn. One of the things that came to light in 2015-16, at least for me, is that I had…

You got me. I have a Paul Ryan poster over my bed. The dreamy one where he’s lifting weights.

Totally got me. I read comments like this all the time — sincere ones.

I fully endorse your response, Tao, although I might add that we should put executives of health insurance companies in prison for fraud and manslaughter.

I fully endorse your response, Tao, although I might add that we should put executives of health insurance companies in prison for fraud and manslaughter.

JRH - You might want to look into what single payer means a little more.

Some days I think I can’t possibly admire Bernie Sanders more than I already do, but then this stuff happens and he’s practically the only person in a position of power that’s willing to speak the truth.

Thank you for this satisfying response! I was so enraged when I read his column. Actually, that was my third reaction after I got over thinking 1) WTF is this and 2) this poor guy doesn’t realize his satire isn’t working and he’s coming across as a moron.

Yes, yes, yes! It’s like he picked up a half dozen romance novels and thought “perhaps I can write an amusing little piece in the Times!”