Bernie Sanders is not Vladimir Lenin or Joseph Stalin

If anything, he's more like FDR. Whereas, Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary who served as the head of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; and Joseph Stalin (as a dictator) held the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Since then, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko and Mikhail Gorbachev were all General Secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union — until the Soviet Union (aka the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics aka the U.S.S.R.) was formally dissolved in 1991.

Boris Yeltsin held the newly created post of "President" of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1991. Vladimir Putin was the 2nd President of Russia from 2000 to 2008. Dmitry Medvedev was the 3rd President of Russia from 2008 to 2012 — until Vladimir Putin again became the President in 2012 (until today).

Bernie Sanders is no Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin or Vladimir Putin. But he could be another Franklin D. Roosevelt — especially if Democrats could retake both chambers of Congress while he is president.

But Bernie has been making waves as the only SELF PROCLAIMED DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST running for president. But don't panic. Here's what you need to know about being a democratic socialist (from the Washington Post) and how it's different from Socialism. (Also watch their short video).

But you can actually learn much more from Bernie Sanders himself, who (in the video embedded below) had recently said during a small town meeting in Iowa that he is preparing to give a “major speech” to explain what “democratic socialism” means. He had earlier acknowledged at a house party that the term makes some people “very, very nervous.” When Bernie Sanders took some questions from the Iowa a crowd (on 10/18/15) he explains a little more in his last question what a "democratic socialist" really is.

Comparing Russia's "Socialism" to Western Europe's modern brand of "Democratic Socialism" would be like comparing "Social Security" to Joseph Stalin — which is like comparing old rotten apples and to perfectly ripe oranges. There is no comparison at all. (FYI: Social Security was created during Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office.)

And the establishment politicians and the media know all this. There are too many people in the Establishment Democratic Party Political Machine ("moderate" Democrats) are more interested in keeping themselves in power with another Clinton or Joe Biden — and so, like the Republicans, have been misusing the moniker "socialist" as a scare tactic against Senator Bernie Sanders — who calls himself a "democratic socialist", but he is really just a "progressive" who is running as a Democrat.

Senator Bernie Sanders founded (and once chaired) the current Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is based on many principals borrowed from the values from the earlier Progressive Era in the United States. Notable progressive leaders during this time included:

• Susan B. Anthony
• Louis Brandeis, Supreme Court justice
• William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee
• Andrew Carnegie, steel magnate, philanthropist
• W.E.B. Du Bois, Black scholar
• Thomas Edison, inventor
• Henry Ford, automaker
• Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, union activist
• Fiorello LaGuardia, U.S. Congressman from New York; New York City mayor
• The Mayo brothers (Mayo Clinic)
• John D. Rockefeller, Jr., philanthropist
• Theodore Roosevelt, President
• William Howard Taft, President and Chief Justice

Were they all "radicals" like Bernie Sanders?

While still a state senator, Franklin D. Roosevelt's success with farm and labor bills was a precursor to his New Deal policies twenty years later. By this time he had become more consistently progressive, in support of labor and social welfare programs for women and children. His cousin Theodore was of some influence on these issues.

In May 1930, FDR reiterated his doctrine from his campaign two years before: "that progressive government by its very terms, must be a living and growing thing, that the battle for it is never ending and that if we let up for one single moment, or one single year, not merely do we stand still, but we fall back in the march of civilization."

Roosevelt had always belonged to the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He sought a realignment that would solidify liberal dominance by means of landslides in 1932, 1934 and 1936. During the 1932 campaign he predicted privately, "I'll be in the White House for eight years. When those years are over, there'll be a Progressive party. It may not be Democratic, but it will be Progressive."

Actually, FDR won 4 straight presidential elections by a landslide — including support from Southern States. (See the chart at the bottom of this page for the eye-popping election results.)

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is often touted for her progressive values, is not listed among the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — although the progressive "Warren Wing" now supports Bernie Sanders. Whereas Hillary Clinton (the SELF PROCLAIMED "moderate") is also claiming to be a "progressive" — but she is really a "Third Way/Centrist" moderate Democrat.

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And that's why the Establishment Democratic Party Political Machine (the current sitting members of Congress, those who have the worst approval rating in history) are endorsing Hillary Clinton — because they consistently vote against the "will" of THE PEOPLE after they were elected.

That's also why the media has been skewing the polls and their reporting about Senator Bernie Sanders (link, link, link, link) — because, like the politicians, they don't want change at all either — because they also like the status quo just as is — because they too are doing just fine as things already stand. It's everybody else that they don't give a damn about (but claim that they do). So besides just electing Bernie Sanders, we also have to vote out most of these establishment "moderates" in Congress.

And what about the way CNN's Anderson Cooper was red-baiting Bernie Sanders during the last debate? Was that a class act or what? Which just goes to show, no matter how much money one has, money can't buy them class. And some media pundits have no class at all.

Bonus Video Below

Bernie Sanders said he has an "ample supply" of underwear, but the reason he's running for president is that the vast majority of undergarments have accrued to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. Saturday Night Live did a really funny spoof of the first Democratic debate (entire 11 minute segment below). The media primarily showed highlights from the segment of Bernie, which admittedly, were the funniest. Larry David’s impersonation of Bernie on SNL was also appreciated by Bernie, who said on ABC's This Week: “I think we'll use Larry at our next rally. He does better than I do.”

* AS AN ASIDE: Are you tired of Uncle Joe behaving like a coy virgin? Well Joe Biden might finally have something to say within the next 48 hours about running for President — according to NBC news.

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