Going forward, it’s going to be really hard for me to get behind Sanders’ candidacy with anything more than tepid enthusiasm.
I just spent the last 45 minutes tracking down the video of Bernie’s appearance on Face the Nation because I didn’t believe brooklynbadboy, or Politico, that he said what he said about superdelegates.
But he did. Plain and simple.
And to that, all I can say is what an idiot. If Bernie wins a popular majority, and even most pledged delegates, but Team Hillary tries to override the popular will by mounting a superdelegate coup, what can Bernie Sanders say about it now?
Nothing.
He just blew his best chance of preventing that by saying that, quote:
INTERVIEWER: But if they [superdelegates] didn’t come from a state that you won, they shouldn’t feel compelled to go for you…
SANDERS: Well......legally they have their own decision to be made, their own right to make that decision. But I would argue that many of these superdelegates, for them what is most important, as it is for me and Hillary Clinton by the way, is making sure that no Republican occupies the White House. And if the people conclude, by the end of this campaign, if we have the energy, and it’s an ‘if’, if we win a number of states, that’s also an ‘if’, but if that’s the factor and it appears that I am the stronger candidate against Trump, you’re going to see some superdelegates saying, “You know what? I like Hillary Clinton but I want to win this thing, Bernie is our guy.”
But most important, he just blew his best chance of being a leader with integrity. I mean, what the fuck. How can you in one sentence say superdeletgates are “problematic”, which obviously refers to their undemocratic nature, and that if they are in a state he won, they should vote for him, and then turn around and say that, if they are in a state he lost, they have their own right to vote for whomever?
Have their own right?
No, they don’t. That’s why they are problematic. Because we, in this country, are supposed to choose our leaders DEMOCRATICALLY.
Especially in the DEMOCRATIC fucking PARTY.
The only upside to this absolute betrayal of the principles of our country and our party is that this isn’t Bernie’s election to screw up.
This is the same thing I’ve been telling Gore supporters for years: In 2000, when the Bush crime family stole Florida, and therefore the presidential election, they didn’t steal it from Al Gore.
They stole it from us, We the People. That was our election. And those were our votes that didn’t get counted.
By the same token, if Bernie pulls off a win of the popular vote in this primary, and the party leadership tries to steal it with a bunch of delegate B.S., it won’t be Bernie they’ll be stealing it from. It will be you.
This is your primary. Not Bernie’s. Not Hillary’s. And sure as hell not the Democratic establishment’s.
One of the most tragic things in my life has occurred over the last 7 years. And that is watching so many of my good friends and allies in the Democratic party become unprincipled hypocrites as they’ve defended and even embraced under Obama that which they adamantly opposed under Bush.
It will be a truly sad affair to watch Bernie’s supporters do the same.
Be honest with yourselves. If Bernie won the popular vote, and the superdelegates tried to override it, you would be up in arms, wouldn’t you?
LESSER EVILS
I consider Hillary Clinton (and Obama) to be fascist. As FDR defines it, it is indisputable. Here is FDR’s definition of fascism, and unlike all the modern scholars and paid shills on TV, FDR actually knew what he was talking about:
"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power"
Nothing about “otherness”, though the fascists certainly used racism and fear of otherness as political weapons.
“Private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state.”
Hello!!! That’s us. That’s our country. And that is the status quo our leaders are protecting.
That was the 1996 Telecommunications bill that Bill Clinton signed and Hillary cheered for that allowed almost the entire media spectrum around the globe to be owned and controlled by about 500 people..
That was the banking deregulation that Bill Clinton signed and Hillary cheered for that allowed banks to become bigger than the presidency.
That is the TPP, the most fascist move yet, that essentially allows corporate psychopaths to override local and national law.
But nothing is more fascist than allowing a small handful of elitist douchebags to override the popular vote in an election.
Nothing.