Samantha Bee runs head-on into an unshakable wall of Bernie Sanders optimism
"You know, it's easy for dried-up old crones like me to dismiss Bernie fans as naive kids who believe in wizards and unicorns — sometimes too easy," Samantha Bee said on Monday night's Full Frontal. "But I wanted to hear from actual Sanders supporters themselves." So she gathered an "impossibly diverse panel" of Sanders fans in a Greenwich Village folk music club and had a heart-to-heart — with herself as much as the Sanders admirers. "I'm not here to bash Bernie," Bee said. "I'm just here to understand your optimism, and stick my fingers in it, and just roll it around in my hands and restore myself to the person I used to be." "If you're feeling bad, we can all give you a hug," one of the Sanders supporters said, kindly.
Bee tried to talk a little sense into her panel, pointing out that Sanders will face the same obstructionism President Obama has faced. They responded that the Sanders movement will force Congress into compliance. "So are you literally saying to me right now that the difference between Obama and Bernie Sanders is that the people of America are going to continue to be motivated within the political process, and they're going to keep putting pressure on our elected leaders to make change?" Bee asked. The panel agreed emphatically. "Have you met people?" Bee asked.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What to know before filing your own taxes for the first timethe explainer Tackle this financial milestone with confidence
-
The biggest box office flops of the 21st centuryin depth Unnecessary remakes and turgid, expensive CGI-fests highlight this list of these most notorious box-office losers
-
The 10 most infamous abductions in modern historyin depth The taking of Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, is the latest in a long string of high-profile kidnappings
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
A peek inside Europe’s luxury new sleeper busThe Week Recommends Overnight service with stops across Switzerland and the Netherlands promises a comfortable no-fly adventure
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
