Solve this political riddle win Big!Prizes!
Here are excerpts from the email from Senator Bernie Sanders that landed in my email in-box this very day to which I have added a little emphasis here and there:
Revitalizing the Democratic Party...Too much is at stake for our country and our people for us not to learn from our past failures and move forward in a way that makes the Democratic Party stronger so we can take on and beat Trump and the right-wing Republican agenda.What the recently released book excerpt from former interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile made clear is that unless we get our act together, we are not going to be effective in either taking on Donald Trump or in stopping the extremist right-wing Republican agenda. We have to re-establish faith with the American people that in fact we can make positive changes in this country through a fair and transparent political process that reflects the will of voters across this country.In order to do that, we need to rethink and rebuild the Democratic Party. We need a Democratic Party that opens its doors to new people, new energy and new ideas. We need a Democratic Party that is truly a grassroots party, where decisions are made from the bottom up, not from the top down. We need a Democratic Party which becomes the political home of the working people and young people of this country, black and white, Latino and Asian and Native American ... all Americans....But we must also make it clear – if we are going to elect Democrats who will move us forward as a country – that we must institute long-needed reforms in the Democratic Party. When we do that, we will not only create a dynamic and progressive party, we will be able to transform our nation and create a government that represents all of us, not just the people on top...
Sounds great! This will not persuade me to sign any meaningless mailing-list aggregator online petitions, but sure, lets do these things. I agree with for Democrats to reform the Democratic Party.
And here is where I get all confused.
From Newsweek, October 23, 2017:
BERNIE SANDERS WON'T BECOME A DEMOCRAT, WILL RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT IN 2018Bernie Sanders has announced he will be running as an independent in 2018, prompting speculation over whether he will run as a Democrat presidential candidate in 2020. But the Vermont senator, who faced pressure to join the Democrats following his bid for the party’s 2016 nomination, said he had always been an independent and was not planning on making any changes in 2018.“I am an independent and I have always run in Vermont as an independent while I caucus with the Democrats in the United States Senate. That’s what I’ve been doing for a long time, and that’s what I’ll continue to do,” Sanders said in a Sunday-night interview with Fox News.
I understand that Senator Sanders is well within his rights to break the promise he made during the 2016 presidential election about running as a Democrat from now on. After all, that promise is no longer convenient, and he didn't swear to it under oath or anything -- he merely asked us to trust him.
That his word was his bond.
That his word was his bond.
When Sanders filed for the NH Primary as a Democrat on 11/5/15, he said he would run as a Democrat in future races. https://t.co/XdAJ1aHaHy https://t.co/EynNOgUvaY— Kailani Koenig (@kailanikm) October 23, 2017
However now that he has made is affirmatively clear that he is not a Democrat and will not be joining the Democratic Party, who exactly is this "we" he keeps referring to that needs to "rethink and rebuild the Democratic Party."?
So what Big!Prizes! did you win for solving this political puzzle?
Well, none, actually.
You see it is no longer convenient for me to to keep the promise I made to you at the beginning of this post.
After all, I didn't swear to it under oath or anything...
Behold, a Tip Jar!
13 comments:
Yah, Bernie Bros, what about it? This is what I have been saying for three years. He is not a Democrat. Why should the DNC do him any favors?
"mailing-list aggregator online petitions"
Uh, if they _emailed_ it to you, isn't the aggregation already done?
"So what Big!Prizes! did you win for solving this political puzzle?"
I know! I know! You get called a corporatist Hillbot slimebag in the comment section of Crooks and Liars.
-Doug in Oakland
Bernie reminds me of someone else who commandeered a party.
Funny how Sanders is to the Clintonists what Clinton is to the Retards. An Outsider's view.
Corporal Driftglass, you are to report to the circular firing squad at O Five Hundred
It would have been my preference Bernie ran for reelection as a Democrat next year, but you should be happy to know it means he's not running for President in 2020.
I can't tell from the clip which character you think Bernie is, I assume the robot, but he's really McCoy. Driftglass is Spock and Uhura's love child. the other actors playing out the charade are the DNC.
Actually Bernie, and his counterpart in Maine left the party for more mundane emotional reasons, as did tens of millions of voters. They're just not into the behind-the-scenes wannabe controllers, the jealous party hacks, the overbearing donors, the strategists and data geeks.
I think it all comes down to how we perceive ourselves, individuals with unique codes of conduct, or interchangeable cogs in a machine, inspected by quality control then stamped with a 'D'.
Bernie and Angus King aren't commandeering the party, to insinuate they're like Trump is fucking stupid. They' are how they vote in the Senate. Period.
If it came down to deciding to repeal the ACA or passing Trump's tax plan, who would you want casting that vote, Bernie or Joe Manchin, Angus King or Heidi Heitkamp?
So if Obama is Captain Kirk, who is Picard? Who should decide, the voters, Donna Brazile, Perez, the super-delegates?
But, Bernie, the Democratic Party doors have always been open to new people. New people who register as Democrats and support the Democratic Party platform. What we aren't open to is ill-informed interlopers who are determined to untrack actual reform of the Party.
"What we aren't open to is ill-informed interlopers who are determined to untrack actual reform of the Party."
Who is 'we'? The Democrats in Vermont overwhelmingly voted for Bernie in the primary. His campaign accounted for the vast majority of new registrants to the Democratic Party. His supporters voted at a higher rate for Hillary than Obama's 2012 swing state voters.
"ill-informed"? All voters are only informed by their own experiences. So yeah, the Millennials are more concerned about student debt and affordable housing than preserving Baby Boomers' political and financial niche. But you know what? Millennials voted for Hillary too.
It's the sickly, old suburban voters who've dissolved the party Into pasty-white mush, or left it altogether in search of a healthier host.
Bernie's washed his hands of the DNC, he's not trying to reform it. He along with the 15 Senators who've endorsed Medicare For All are pushing forward with a positive agenda. The 2020 Democratic nominee will come from their ranks. It won't be Schumer, or Feinstein, or Cuomo, or anyone closely aligned with Hillary.
I wish I could have confidence, Bongo, in your concluding sentence, but I do not.
For many years I was a registered Democrat, but at one point an out of state move prompted me to examine whether I was in fact aligned with the Democratic Party. The answer was no, in large part because of its increasing reliance on corporate money and embrace of neoliberal policies. For many more years I was steadfast in holding to this position, through another couple of state moves and chances to reevaluate that decision. Then came 2016. I voted for Bernie in the primaries, and Hillary in the general election.
My consternation at Trump's victory changed my mind immediately. In the past I would have described myself as a proud liberal or progressive. In the political climate we live in, I think it's important to go one step further and declare myself a proud Democrat.
It is easy to snipe from the sidelines, I’ve done it myself. But, unless you are in a position within the organization you want to reform, a position with some authority, that is, your efforts and edicts will be for naught. You can’t pontificate from without and be listened to within.
Admittedly I felt the burn.
Was I a Bernie Bro?
Under my definition of a Bernie bro is support and vote for him as long as I can and he is a candidate. If he is not on the ballot, what is next best thing.
Then Yes, I am a Bernie Bro.
If "your" definition of Bernie Bro is, so devoted that when he doesn't win the nomination of the party he campaigns in to win the nomination. He loses to another opponent in that primary. As Bernie did not run as an independent after and was not on the ballot.
Bernie who campaigned for the Democratic nominee primary winner (HRC) and even if it was Biden. But Bernie called out loudly.
Our choice for president is a corrupt, fascist ugly person and Hillary that isn't viewed trustworthy either.
The choice became between voting for a Fascist or voting for someone that is not a fascist.
Bernie called out to vote for the NON Fascist.
And supposedly, too many Bernie Bros defied their guy and voted for the fascist? Out of anger? out of Hillary hate?
Then under this definition. NO, I would not consider myself a Bernie Bro.
There is a dust up in the Dem party echelons. Which I am not part of or have a voice in. I am registered Dem but am not exactly a loyal lemur to the party. I cannot be like the hannity hannitized minions. No doubt I just do not lean toward the Dem party in elections. They do seem to have more of my interests, and more candidates that reflect my views. In those views includes representing others besides my own. I can vote to improve Medicaid and be taxed for it even though I haven't ever used it.
They let them die outside the emergency room after denying them medical assistance is not my crowd. I realize a day will come where these haters will find themselves in such a position. In my view, that their death in denying them what they would deny others in their moment of life and death is a terrible time to teach them a lesson of their beliefs. For if they die, they learned nothing.
A better "punishment" sort of, would be life changing experience from there after and that being passed on.
Anyways, when are people getting over the Bernie/ HRC divides? It is resist time. Mueller time.
I think once rational thought returns, any Bernie Bros that voted anger for Trump is being realized.
What about those who swallowed the Russian Hype on top of the GOP's hype on top of Nut bag crazy Bond Villain Billionaires like the Mercers That force fed the anger, hate and disinformation and fell prey to that mass political propganda massacre shooting of reality our democracy requires to survive.
It would appear that those awful, corrupt, clueless Democrats are indeed capable of winning the very sort of elections that need to be won in order to retake a house of congress in 2018, and retake enough statehouses to un-gerrymander some of the country in 2021.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to help them and a bad idea to tear them down.
-Doug in Oakland
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