I have been wanting to do a Bernie Sanders piece for some time but with so many other TURDs out there it took a while for him to float to the surface.  I looked on-line for a picture of BS to use but did not find anything appropriate (there are absolutely no pictures of him with a background signifying his political bent), thus I took the time to put BS into the proper context.  So much for the sweet little ole gray haired grandfather type.

BS is such a sh*t from so many perspectives I am not sure where to start and I will likely need a couple of posts to do him justice.

If you think Socialism (in any form) is such a great idea I suggest you look at Venezuela, Greece, Cuba, Denmark, China, Vietnam, etc.   Other countries which refer to themselves in some way as social democracies or democratic socialist nations  in their constitutions include:  “Bangladesh, India, North Korea, Portugal, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Noticeably absent from the list are European nations that are traditionally considered the models of democratic socialist countries. This may be because democratic socialism is more of an ideal than a specific practice.”  Great list.  Yeah, let’s make the U.S. like Venezuela!  Socialists spread misery throughout the country so if you think you are going to get something for nothing, better think again.

Here is a great article by Alexander Green, Chief Investment Strategist, The Oxford Club dated 2/19/2016 from the Investment U Daily entitled, “How a Vote for Sanders Is Like a Vote for Hitler”:

Lately, the economy has been weak and the stock market has acted hinky.

There are good reasons to believe this rough patch – like every correction and bear market of the past – is temporary and things will eventually get better.

But only if Americans don’t lose their collective minds and elect the “Democratic Socialist” from Vermont to the highest office in the land.

Some praise Sanders’ economic policies. (They were a big hit in Greece and Venezuela at first, too.)

But aside from economic prescriptions that even the left-leaning Washington Post calls “An Assault on Reality,” Sanders shares an unflattering trait with the former leader of the Third Reich.

Outrageous? Perhaps. But hear me out…

There is no event in modern history to compare with the Holocaust. Germans murdered 6 million innocent Jews. And would have murdered millions more had the Allies not stopped them.

Some folks want to believe this whole tragic affair was due to a few bad apples in the Nazi party.

Not so.

The Jews were systematically excluded from German economic life, kicked out of their homes, herded into ghettos, and loaded onto freight trains in the open, in broad daylight, under approving eyes and with the full knowledge of politicians, policemen, lawyers, judges, doctors, teachers, church leaders and everyday citizens.

Millions knew of the slaughter too. How could this happen?

Hitler convinced his people that Germany’s troubles were caused by just 1% of the population: the Jews.

In reality, of course, German Jews were a tremendous asset. They were hardworking and successful, particularly in business and finance. They were more highly educated, more affluent and more law-abiding than most, committing few crimes in relation to their numbers.

Yet Hitler projected every fear, anxiety and frustration onto them. He scapegoated them so successfully, in fact, that ordinary Germans began to detest them, even those who had never met a Jew.

(If any of this surprises you, read Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germansand the Holocaust by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. And keep a stiff drink handy.)

Hitler was a monster. But his fundamental flaw was that he was a deluded and unrepentant bigot.

So is Bernie Sanders.

Sanders does not scapegoat an ethnic or religious minority, however. He scapegoats a financial one. He dislikes rich people.

Listen to a Sanders stump speech, and you’ll discover that folks with money are the bane of our existence. They have “fixed” the economy, corrupted politics, denied healthcare to millions, cheated the working class, shirked taxes, created shocking inequality and hoarded the wealth for themselves.

I must live in an alternate universe.

Most of the rich people I know stayed in school, studied hard, worked diligently, lived beneath their means, took big risks and often failed many times before they succeeded. They hire most of the workers and pay most of the taxes. The vast majority have never hired a lobbyist or bought a politician.

Moreover, every transaction I’ve ever had with a rich person was entirely voluntary.

My family and friends were happy to trade our money for billionaire Bill Gates’ operating system, billionaire Steve Jobs’ iPhone, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ one-click ordering, billionaire Oprah Winfrey’s books and TV shows, billionaire Larry Page’s search engine, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s social media, and billionaire Warren Buffett’s money management, to name just a few.

Yet Sanders insists that economically successful people – that detestable 1% – are leading the country to rack and ruin.

And he likes to make it personal. On the campaign trail, he regularly brags, “I do not have millionaire and billionaire friends.”

Wow.

Most of us don’t have billionaire friends. After all, according to Forbes there are only 536 of them in a nation of 319 million people.

But millionaires?

According to market research and consulting firm Spectrem Group, there are 10.1 million households in the U.S. with $1 million in net assets, excluding the value of their homes. (Include real estate equity and the number jumps by several million.)

Yet Sanders spits out “millionaires and billionaires” the way most of us throw around “robbers and thieves.”

If this seems alright to you, take a moment and consider a few similar statements:

• I do not have black or brown friends.
• I do not have gay or lesbian friends.
• I do not have fat or ugly friends.
• I do not have Muslim or Hindu friends.
• I do not have Baptist or Catholic friends.
• I do not have conservative or libertarian friends.
• I do not have liberal or progressive friends.
• I do not have Jewish or gypsy friends.

So, okay, Sanders is no Hitler. I know that. But he is a demagogue, one who is so intent on demonizing the rich and preaching class hatred that he does not even recognize the flagrant bigotry of his own words.

Nor, apparently, do the cheering crowds at his rallies. (Nor, we can assume, did the cheering crowds at Nuremberg.)

Nazi Germany never appreciated the tremendous value of an economically successful 1%. And Sanders doesn’t recognize the value of America’s most successful 1%.

Some voters will counter that they are not rich – and they are for Sanders.

Fine. But if they regularly save, invest and compound their money, they will wake up one day to find that Sanders is no longer for them.

Good investing,

Alex

Stay tuned for additional BS posts.  Bernie Sanders, TURD fur sure.