I am only sharing this thread (which is riddled with a mixture of falsehoods and semi-valid points) to illustrate a contradictory conflict that exists between Democratic establishment CIR campaign and the Sanders campaign. So here’s my own mini-thread on this… /1
First, I’ll demur on what to do about the the Lou Dobbs footage. It is truthfully troubling to see Sanders’ validating Dobbs’ racism, both with his presence on the show and with irksome his nods of agreement. Hopefully, if asked, Sanders will express regret the appearance. /2
2nd, I have to set the record straight: Progressives did NOT kill the 07 bill. That accusation, to borrow Simon’s rhetoric, is bulls-t. It’s a pernicious lie that has spread for years with very real consequences for those of us who are on the receiving end. It’s gotta stop. /3
It would be more accurate to say that progressives helped kill the Sensenbrenner bill, which passed out of the House and was the most anti-immigrant comprehensive immigration legislation since the 1920s… /4
Moreover, the Senate bill (which invariably would've gotten worse in the House) didnt legalize 11 million people. Not even close. In fact, most day laborers didnt qualify because of continuous work requirement that paved the "path to citizenship" w/ indentured servitude. /5
There’s lot more that could be said about this old beef from 2007, and believe me, I think it’s important to unearth, understand, and reconcile some of this tension going forward, so I won’t shy away from these debates. But to get to the point…. /6
This thread from Simon illustrates a problem for both the “CIR or bust” approach to immigration that has been *Bipartisan Establishment* dogma for 20 years, and it poses a problem for Sanders- who mysteriously keeps promising to deliver on a CIR bill from congress! /7
So for the CIR campaign, the thread lays bare this uncomfortable truth: A good CIR bill might be an absolute impossibility. After all, if CIR wasn’t possible with a consensus that included Bush, McCain, and Kennedy, how would or will it ever be possible be possible? /8
But for the Sanders campaign, it does reveal a big, mysterious conundrum: How can it seriously promise now to deliver a CIR bill in 2020 when the price- for Sanders himself- was too high in 2007? /9
I maintain that continued promises of CIR from Sanders is lazy, it’s false, and it belies any faith I have that he (the candidate) is taking this issue seriously. Worse, I think that it opens the possibility that Trump himself will more credibly promise to deliver on CIR. /10
The good news is that everyone- all the way from Senators to Beltway-based lobbyist groups to those of us who were on the ‘left flank’ during the Obama years- are *evolving in our approach to defending & advancing immigrant rights, so there's hope for Sanders to evolve too. /11
Will end by noting again that Sanders' immigration platform on paper is the most ambitious & progressive set of proposals from a presidential candidate I’ve ever seen. Now if only Sanders could demonstrate that he knows how to defend it from the attacks that will surely come /12
… because this annoying and confusing thread from @SimonWDC is just the beginning of the s—storm that lies ahead. /##
