A friend of mine on “Facebook” just wrote an update screaming about how, after America had told the Democrats that old-school mainstream machine politicians were NOT the answer, House Democrats had renominated Nancy Pelosi anyway. Needless to say, my friend is a Democrat and a Hillary supporter, as am I. My friend is not a fan of Nancy Pelosi, and neither am I. Nevertheless I couldn’t help but feel enraged when I read about his annoyance over Nancy Pelosi keeping her position as House minority leader. Shouldn’t I be nodding in agreement? Nancy Pelosi oversaw the Democratic massacre in 2010, paving the way for GOP obstructionism and gerrymandering that would leave the House permanently in GOP hands. Why should she keep her job? And why do I feel compelled to yell at Democrats who are angry at her for keeping her job instead of agreeing forcefully?
I guess it’s because I’m seeing the cancer of white supremacism and misogyny that has overtaken the GOP spilling into the Democratic Party.
Think about it. Women have taken all the blame for the 2016 electoral defeat. Hillary Clinton was too centrist (despite the fact that she moved significantly to the left during her campaign in order to give progressives a voice). Debbie Wasserman Schultz destroyed the Democratic Party by secretly helping Hillary Clinton (despite the fact that Kurt Eichenwald completely debunked that myth). Huma Abedine was a horrible person who covered up for her pervert husband and never should have been attached to Hillary’s campaign. Donna Brazile completely screwed over Bernie by feeding a question to Hillary Clinton before a debate. She lost her job at CNN for that. Fox News reporters who fed Trump questions before the debate still have their jobs. I’m guessing said Fox reporters are white and male. Even Elizabeth Warren got heat for failing to endorse Bernie Sanders and doing campaign events with Hillary Clinton.
Yes, according to vindictive progressives engaging in schadenfreude over Trumps’ victory…. the Democrats’ failure was all the fault of stupid women. And frankly it steams me because while I would like to lob some deserved criticism at Hillary Clinton (taking her convention bounce for granted by spending August relaxing in the Hamptons while Trump dominated the news with a highly successful campaign reboot, pouring cold water on Millennial voter turnout during the critical early voting weeks by issuing a horrible statement on DAPL.). . . . . I feel like I’m playing into the hands of misogyny. Democrats are (somewhat justifiably) tearing apart Hillary Clinton while (completely unjustifiably) elevating Bernie Sanders. The Democratic post-election mood towards Bernie appears to be “WE’RE SORRY!!! WE’RE SORRY!!! YOU’RE RIGHT!!! WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOU! WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE ALLOWED OUR PRIMARY PROCESS TO BE DOMINATED BY BLACK VOTERS!”
Coronating Bernie while excoriating Hillary? This misogyny at its worst.
Let’s make this clear. Bernie Sanders deserves as much blame, if not more so, for Hillary Clinton’s defeat as Hillary does. Bernie Sanders desperately hurt the Democrats by continuing to campaign well past the point where he had a viable shot at the Democratic nomination. By poisoning the well for Hillary despite knowing full well the dangers involved with the GOP nominee becoming president Bernie was reckless and egotistical. In Bernie’s eyes his ego was worth more than the safety of his country or democracy. No wonder Bernie’s post-convention weak tea request of his supporters to not engage in protest votes didn’t work. The last two months of his primary campaign were a fucking protest vote! Forcing Hillary to wage a war on two fronts in California instead of gathering steam for a very necessary push against Trump was a nasty and dangerous move by Bernie Sanders. Whipping his supporters into an uncontrollable rage and then forcing Michelle Obama to do the heavy lifting when it came to saving the unity of the Democratic National Convention was vile. Bernie should not walk away without taking some responsibility for his own role in Trump’s victory.
But of course Bernie Sanders will walk away. As a white male Bernie will walk away from the 2016 Clinton campaign without a stain on his character after the way he trashed Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party. And he will see the campaign as a victory for his point of view. Even now Bernie is forcing Democrats on the train of misogyny and white populism that has worked so well for the GOP. He has derided Hillary Clinton’s campaign that so many women saw as a long-needed step in the march towards equality. “It’s not enough to say ‘I’m a woman, vote for me,’” Bernie sneered, ignoring the detailed policies that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine put together for a stable American future. He has ignored the strident steps Hillary Clinton took towards communities of color when it came to voting rights and police transparency. Bernie has not learned the lessons of his primary campaign. Bernie does not see the soft racism of detached white male progressives. It is not enough to moan about how we should be “deeply humiliated” at having lost white working class voters (who overwhelmingly, as a bloc, for a fascist ) and how we apparently “owe” something to people who hate-voted against massive parts of the American population. Meanwhile Bernie continues to ignore voters of color, whom the Democrats DEFINITELY owe due to the fact that minority voters voted as a bloc for sanity.
The Democrats don’t owe white working class voters anything. The Democrats owe VOTERS OF COLOR a great deal, but Bernie isn’t going out of his way to recognize this. Look at this conversation between Bernie and Spike Lee.
“Our party is not about having fancy fundraisers, it’s about going into union halls, veterans’ halls, farm communities, the inner cities. It has to bring people together around the progressive agenda and make government work for all of us and not the 1%.”
Well Bernie, if you truly want to reach “the inner cities,” might I suggest you stop using racist dogwhistle terms like “the inner cities?” The vast majority of communities of color live above the poverty line and have lifestyles like… well, like ALL AMERICANS! I believe making generalized progressive statements without detail and not connecting with communities of color were what lost Bernie the primary in the first place. I read quotes by Bernie like the one up above and sigh. Lesson not learned. Sigh.
Credit though where credit is due. I completely agree with Bernie’s strident endorsement of Keith Ellison for DNC chair. Muslims and voters of color were the only voting blocs to completely support the Democrats and the Democratic Party needs to see that their future is in America’s diverse communities. Nevertheless I can’t help but wonder if Bernie’s endorsement of Ellison is less to do with Ellison’s progressive policies and more as a reward for Ellison’s endorsement of Bernie during the primary. Ellison was one of only two senators to endorse Bernie and Bernie is rather Trumpian when it comes to rewarding loyalty.
Also I have to admit that while Hillary Clinton is licking her wounds in New York Bernie has deftly played the media in terms of Trump’s ridiculous Carrier deal. Bernie’s characterization of Carrier taking Trump “hostage” was devastating and clearly sucked all the wind out of Trump’s sails. Also Bernie has been on fire with his “Twitter” account, earning headlines over fake news reports over climate change. We need some fight and we need some spine in this bad new era and Bernie is providing it. And I support him in that.
But before we get back on the Bernie train, I am making a request to my fellow Democrats. Let’s not support Bernie at the expense of selling women and voters of color down the river. There are many strong women progressives who are steering the Democratic Party back on course. Elizabeth Warren is keeping herself in the news. Senator-elect Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) has just made history as our nation’s first Latina senator. (Seriously? It’s taken this long?) Senator-elect Kamala Harris (D-CA) has just put racist neo-Confederate Jefferson Beauregard Sessions on notice when it comes to his Attorney General confirmation hearings. And you haven’t heard the last of the Clintons yet. Rumor has it that Chelsea Clinton is preparing a congressional run. So let’s continue to heavily support women and candidates of color and NOT fall down the wormhole of misogyny that will continue to grip the country for the next four years.