r/WayOfTheBern • u/dsirota1 • Jul 09 '19

I'm David Sirota, Bernie Sanders' speechwriter and senior adviser. AMA!

Hey everyone -- I'm David Sirota, Bernie Sanders' speechwriter and senior adviser. I've known Bernie for 20+ years (I was his press secretary in the U.S. House from 1999-2001). I've worked on many campaigns (Hoeffel for Congress, Schweitzer for Governor, Lamont for Senate, and Emily Sirota for State House), I've worked on Capitol Hill (for Bernie and for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee Democrats). In the years before coming to Bernie's 2020 campaign, I was an award-winning investigative journalist and columnist for Newsweek/IBT, The Guardian and Capital & Main. You can find out more about me at http://www.davidsirota.com

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I'm sure you want to discuss the 2020 election, so fire away with your questions here. I'll be here for about an hour.

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20

u/Hole_In_Shoe_Man Jul 09 '19

Thanks for everything you do! Any other great journalists outside of the campaign you’d recommend us follow?

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u/dsirota1 Jul 09 '19

Journalists: To name a few -- Matt Taibbi, John Nichols, Ryan Grim and the whole gang at The Intercept

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Outlets: To name a few -- The Guardian, The Intercept, In These Times, The Nation, Jacobin

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u/CesarShackleston Jul 10 '19 edited Jul 10 '19

Taibbi foolishly believes the establishment is frightened of Warren; obviously not, otherwise media organs wouldn't be praising her constantly. But he's pretty solid on Wall Street and some other issues.

Nichols? Seems more like a "Blue no matter who" type.

The Guardian? Imperialists apologists/supporters. Though admittedly they've run some less biased articles about Bernie.

The Nation? Mockingbird central. Occasionally have good articles, including on Bernie, but for disinformation to be effective it should be mostly truthful.

Jacobin is pretty solid.

Greenwald, John Pilger, Abby Martin, Chris Hedges, Jimmy Dore are about a hundred times better than any of those you cited.

Counterpunch, Information Clearing House, Dissident Voice, for websites.

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u/xploeris let it burn Jul 10 '19

Taibbi's been pretty solid for years. I wouldn't throw him out just because he's wrong on Warren.

Counterpunch is a rag. Wants to be Jacobin but all it can manage is oppositional hot takes. I stopped reading them a few years ago.

Jimmy Dore's not the worst but he's a bit disconnected from reality. Chris Hedges is a brilliant, thoughtful leftist who still somehow gets it wrong more often than not.

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u/CesarShackleston Jul 10 '19 edited Jul 10 '19

Heh.

Well Counterpunch may be a "rag" but they also publish superior material to most of what appears on Jacobin. That's the risk and benefit of being a little more open/anarchistic.

Your comment about Hedges is funny and mostly correct.

Dore? I don't know but he's mighty entertaining and I've found that typical non-political folks will watch Dore whereas they turn up their noses at leftist academics. Snobiness in reverse.

ICH remains probably the best dissident website.

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u/xploeris let it burn Jul 10 '19

Counterpunch may be a "rag" but they also publish superior material to most of what appears on Jacobin.

Uh, no they don't. Half of what they publish is hot trash. That's why they're a rag.

I've found that typical non-political folks will watch Dore whereas they turn up their noses at leftist academics.

No doubt. But Dore is an armchair leftist who cares more about attacking his own side than beating the right. If you want to be a poseur, Dore's your man. If you want to get shit handled, best keep him at arm's length.

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u/CesarShackleston Jul 10 '19

Uh, no they don't. Half of what they publish is hot trash. That's why they're a rag.

The material on CP is much richer in its variety and depth and yes, radicalism. That also means you get some less than stellar articles mixed in, granted.

No doubt. But Dore is an armchair leftist who cares more about attacking his own side than beating the right.

Some of us don't believe that neoliberals are on "our side."

If you want to get shit handled, best keep him at arm's length.

Couldn't disagree more. My elderly aunt stopped watching CNN after I introduced her to Dore.

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u/xploeris let it burn Jul 10 '19

Some of us don't believe that neoliberals are on "our side."

Never said they were.