Papers refuse to say Sanders won

I wrote a letter to the editor a while back explaining that a democratic socialist is: “Collectively putting in the pot (taxes) for the good of the commons” (all of us). example: Social Security, Medicare, firefighters, police, judges, teachers, roads, things the private sector do not do well. We don’t want government making our shoes or cars. This leaves plenty for private industry.

In the first democratic debate I watched Bernie Sanders fumble through his explanation of what he considers himself to be: a democratic socialist. I’ve listened to Bernie on the Thom Hartmann radio show for years. He’s on every Friday for an hour in a segment called “Brunch with Bernie.” If he had more time to answer this question, he would have explained it in the same way I have done here, because this is where I first heard it. CNN and Facebook put the debate on. Their polls late Tuesday night picked Sanders the winner at 80 percent, Time Magazine had Sanders at 64 percent. MSNBC had Bernie at 84 percent. The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune agreed that Sanders won the debate. The next day papers did not reflect his win. They only talked of how Clinton held her own, was dominant, how she took on Sanders. Our own Herald did the same. There were no numbers, only spin. This is a perfect example of what’s called “framing the debate.” Bernie won the debate, but in the media, that’s not important, it’s who controls the narrative.

Patrick Rainsberger

Snohomish