“Last night on CNN, Bernie Sanders called me a political hack.“That’s exactly who the fuck I am! I am a political hack! I am not an ideologue. I am not a purist. He thinks it’s a pejorative. I kinda like it! At least I’m not a communist!”
Political consultant and long-time Clinton acolyte James Carville on Snapchat with former CNN reporter Peter Hamby.
You have to love this. Yes, I think it’s a remarkably ethical statement from Carville. He is, unlike so many of his fellow operatives and strategists, not pretending to be someone and something he isn’t. He has delivered welcome honesty where we almost never receive it. Carville is loyal to those who pay him, like a lawyer, like lobbyists, like so many members of Congress. His candor also solved the long-time mystery (to some) of how the supposedly progressive Clintonista could be happily married to Mary Matalin, a prominent Republican strategist and mouthpiece. Now we know: he and she are true soul mates in cynical Washington. Their mutual missions are facilitating political warfare and skulduggery, for pieces of silver. The honesty is so refreshing!
And Bernie is a Communist. The public needs to know it, and cheers to Carville for ripping off the bandaid.
Ethics Alarms 
Similar to the attitude of the fictional Horace Rumpole: “A barrister, my dear sir, is a taxi plying for hire. That is the fine tradition of our trade.”
The Rajin’ Cajun strikes again. Ooh la lah. “C’est la vie!” say the old folks, “it goes to show you never can tell!”
Just callin’ a spade a spade. A Commie a Commie.
If dragging a dollar through a trailer park produces certain results, what does dragging one through a communist’s dacha?
It is a little odd to imagine what could happen in America if one like Sanders did achieve a substantial following. Sander may not have a chance, but then you never can know where things will go in the future. Two *titans* appear on the cultural landscape. I have to admit I am sort of excited to see how it all plays out. Suite à la prochaine mes chers enfants!.
Will you sing in Chinese Commie suits in glorious unison? or will you wear the Red MAGA Hat of Freedom while chomping on a barbecued spare rib?!? (There are numerous ways to phrase this question of course).
Now, the origin of Sanders’ communism/socialism must be held in the mind. It has specific *ideological predicates*. They have been very very successful in all parts of the Cosmos except here on Earth!
Stubborn Earthlings!
It does explain a lot.
I do like him more than I did yesterday.
And, yes, it does help explain how his marriage can work.
-Jut
I’m having a hard time with this. I thought the original rant about the Dems going so far left that they will become a splinter “party” that has no influence, aka power, on the general political landscape was on target.i And the follow up of arguing with Bernie and calling him a communist was gold…. for a while. [Sometimes these things take a while to soak into this thick head.] I now have a hard time seeing Carville’s rants as ethical.
At the end of the day he is saying that it is a tactical error for Bernie, or any of the other candidates, to be “out front” with their plans and philosophies. He is advocating for them to hide their true intentions in order to get the votes, and once gettng the votes to go ahead with the underlying programs. How can that be ethical when the whole idea of a representative democracy, a Republic, is that the people, the governed, select representatives to do their bidding at the government level. When those selected do not honor the voters wishes, or abandon them once they get the vote, they are perpetrating a fraud. Carville is in fact giving lessons in successfully perpetrating a fraud on the voting public. How can this be ethical?
But that wasn’t the ethical quote. It was ethical to admit that he has no loyalties, or principles, except follow the money. He’s a hack, and admits it. And he gets extra credit for the Churchillian put down of Bernie.
OK. I’ll buy that. Looks like Carville is that blind hog that finally found an acorn. 🙂
“…that blind hog that finally found an acorn”
I have a hard time with that analogy. Hogs find acorns with their noses. A blind one is not handicapped in this regard.
Just sayin’ 🙂