There were plenty of reasons during last night’s Democratic debate to sit back in your favorite chair or sprawl on the sofa, and wonder if the Dean Martin Roasts had come back to NBC. (I loved those hour-long broadcasts!) In my over four decades of watching politics in this nation, nothing compares to the meltdown which took place live from Las Vegas.
While many moments stand out for redress and comment from the debate there was another instance from the night prior that bore down and really galled me. And needs to be commented about on my blog.
It was when Bernie Sanders, the candidate who often looks so red-faced, and on the verge of a stroke, had the audacity when asked at a CNN Town Hall if he would release his full medical records to the electorate, stated the following.
“I don’t think we will, no.”
It does not take anyone long to do a fast search of my archives at Caffeinated Politics to know that there has been a constant call for openness in government. A plea for transparency. I have written many posts that deal with that topic–be it regarding the local and all-too willfully derelict Marquette Neighborhood Association Board to the shameful way that Donald Trump has failed to release his tax returns.
So here comes Sanders to add to the lowering of our needs as voters and proving more his kinship with those who wish to conceal and hide information. At a time when voters need to have all the information they require to make a solid choice at an election, Sanders says he will not abide by any norms regarding his health information.
His political style is, at the roots, not unlike all those he loves to bluster about and ridicule. After all, was it not Sanders who promised, after his heart attack in 2019, to release “comprehensive” health information? Trump told the voters in 2016 that in time he would allow for his tax records to be released. The lack of accountability runs deeps in those who seek to hijack a political party.
The reason Sanders is simply wrong in this stand is due to the fact he is 78 and would be the most senior of the men if elected to the White House. Anyone who watches his gesticulating madness on a stage, with his head-turning more and more the shade of a setting sun, does have every right to know what the medical records state.
I can bet–with my Elvis album collection as the deal–that if Sanders were fit as a fiddle the records would be not only released but used in a way to underscore the obese and lumbering gait of Trump. That Sanders is hiding the records raises real alarms.
Voters have a right to expect respect from presidential candidates when they ask for the full weight of the office to be placed on their shoulders. Being honest about health matters is vital to our republic. Sanders is proving that he is not willing to meet that standard.
We must not relent on getting to the truth.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 