Sunday, May 22, 2016

Blackmail 2016

 (*Updated below)

The Democratic Party is sounding a lot like the House Un-American Activities Committee these days.

HUAC was the star chamber convened in the late 1930s for the ostensible purpose of rooting out Communists and other subversives in government, the media, and the entertainment industry. It was finally disbanded in 1975 in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

HUAC's main underlying agenda, however, was the dismantling of the New Deal. If proponents got smeared along the way, too bad. They were the collateral damage of the right wing counterrevolution.The public was supposed to be scared witless into taking money away from social programs and plunking billions, and later trillions, into Superpower's global agenda of regime change and corporate hegemony. The Red Menace was the manufactured terrorism of the day, and the effectiveness of its propaganda lasted until the breakup of the Soviet Union.




Fast forward to 2016. The New Deal is still barely hanging on, with FDR's social programs either long gone, whittled down, or under constant threat of dismemberment.  And then along comes Bernie Sanders, exposing the bipartisan right wing for what it truly is: The Island of Doctor Moreau. The Republicans are the main torturers and sadists. The Democrats are the grisly lab assistants who will occasionally sneak up to the cages to give the victims an anesthetizing choice morsel or two to make their trip to the vivisection table more befuddled.





The audience was never supposed to know about the subplot. After all, they are merely the audience and not the actors. And if millions of people did have an inkling, they had nobody to represent their interests and nobody to amplify their voices. Until Bernie came along, giving Hillary Clinton a run for her corporate, anti-New Deal money.

Clinton, who merely vows to "protect" Medicare and Social Security from GOP depredation, has a long sordid history when it comes to the New Deal. Specifically, she was the impetus behind the 1996 destruction of FDR's Aid to Families With Dependent Children and transforming it to the cruel Temporary Aid to Needy Families. The result has been the doubling of extreme poverty after the Clinton deregulation bubble finally burst from the excesses of its own greed.

Sanders, meanwhile, wants to actually expand Social Security as well as increase Medicare benefits to all citizens, regardless of age, health and financial status. He wants to lessen the power of behemoth financial institutions by reinstating the Clinton-demolished Glass-Steagall Act.  His proposals, taken as a whole, would actually go beyond the New Deal reforms.
 
 Thus the Democratic bosses of Psy-Ops "There is No Alternative" Theater are all in a tizzy, because the denouement of the movie -- the vindication and the  coronation of their neoliberal heroine -- is coming up in only two months. The star is in danger of being upstaged at her own premiere. Instead of throngs of cheering, adoring fans lining the red (ooh, scary!) carpet, she might be faced with throngs of protesters.

So the Party and its mouthpieces are going all HUAC on Bernie and the Sandernistas. It's a coordinated media campaign which sounds, ironically enough, as if it comes straight out of Pravda. Either Bernie and his supporters take the loyalty oath to the Empress-in-Waiting right now, or the election of Donald Trump and the rise of a fascist state will be totally on them. The inherent corruption and weakness of Hillary herself will have nothing at all to do with it. When Clinton backers accuse Sanders of not being a "real Democrat," the dog-whistling subtext is that he is not a real American. It's just a more subtle variation on the anti-Obama "birther" theme rhapsodized to perfection by Donald Trump himself.


  "Party unity" is suddenly trumping (sorry!) the interests and rights of the body politic. Protest at your own peril, people! And anyhow, resistance is futile.


(graphic by Kat Garcia)


To his credit, Sanders is not caving to the Party psy-ops offensive, which has included a nonstop barrage of ad hominem attacks by such Democratic luminaries as Paul Krugman and Barney Frank. He's apparently morphed from progressive saint to violence-enabling demagogue overnight, breaching some invisible red line into traitorous anti-American territory. "Even progressives are criticizing him now after he's shown a harder edge!" shrills Politico. Flying chairs and flying broomsticks abound in Liberal Land.

But without even one speck of flying spittle in evidence on the Sunday talk show circuit, Bernie calmly noted that if Hillary Clinton hopes to ever rise above her "lesser evil" status, then it is actually on her - not us - to change her tune.
“I have every confidence that if Hillary Clinton is prepared to stand up to the greed of corporate America and Wall Street; is prepared to be really strong on the issue of climate change; support, as I do, a tax on carbon; is prepared to say that the United States of America should join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all people, paid family and medical leave; is prepared to say that the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality today in America, where almost all new income and wealth is going to the top 1 percent. If she is strong on those issues, yeah, I think she will win and win by a large vote,” Sanders said.“But if she is not, she's going to have her problems.”
Corey Robin (author of the book The Reactionary Mind) has written a short but brilliant critique of the ongoing inverted totalitarianism posing as a free and democratic electoral process. Admonitions to liberals and leftists to cease and desist from all legitimate criticism of Hillary lest it empower Trump are actually steeped in the Leninist dogma. To wit, "The principle of democratic centralism and autonomy for local Party organisations implies universal and full freedom to criticise, so long as this does not disturb the unity of a definite action; it rules out all criticism which disrupts or makes difficult the unity of an action decided on by the Party."

Wow. Robin then points to the recent smear headline in the New York Times as a prime example of the authoritarianism attempting to choke out civic dissent:

“Bernie Sanders, Eyeing Convention, Willing to Harm Hillary Clinton in the Homestretch."

Haul him before the ghost chamber of HUAC - pronto! 

Robin also likens the Democratic establishment's attempt to suppress dissent against Hillary Clinton to the late unlamented Antonin Scalia's justification for handing that other rigged presidential election to George W. Bush. "The counting of votes that are of questionable legality does in my view threaten irreparable harm to petitioner [Bush]," he wrote in that infamous decision.

Double wow.

The Clintonites are smack dab in the extreme center. Their anointed candidate might be a skunk adorning a solid yellow line, but Her Supreme Zombie-ness must and will lurch all the way to the finish line. 

Meanwhile, the hordes of trolls are all tangled up in the Internets. There are Trump supporters playing sexist Sanders supporters, Clinton supporters playing "recovering" ex-Sanders supporters. and bona fide Clinton supporters just into shaming and blaming desperate people into abject submission to their fate. A red-baiting troll responded to my own latest Times comment by saying that my "credentials" are not in order, and must be examined. The anonymous poster didn't say who exactly should investigate my bona fides, keeping me in much suspense. (Mind you, the Times comment threads are supposedly strictly moderated, so the censors are obviously okay with scaremongering McCarthyesque rhetoric.)

Of course, the Clintonoids disavow their own part in the rampant trollery, despite a PAC called "Correct the Record" which supposedly pays trolls to attack her critics online. 

Now comes Raw Story's "exposé" of a nefarious Trump plot to "divide the Democratic party" via a nasty online comment offensive. Perhaps, however, we should question whether the Trump trolls playing Democratic trolls aren't really Clinton trolls in the first place. After all, one of the silliest  talking-point accusations of the Clinton trolls is that Bernie supporters are really Republicans in disguise. "Have you now, or have you ever been, a member of any party that does not unquestioningly support Commandant Hillary?"

***

Maureen Dowd took a break from her "Tete-a-Tetes With Trump" series to castigate Hillary Clinton for her delay in defeating Bernie Sanders. Not that Dowd had anything nice to say about Sanders, of course. In true arch "Style Section" fashion, she wrote:
Everyone just laughed when Sanders, a cranky loner from Vermont with a nondescript Senate record, decided to challenge Queen Hillary. Clinton and her aides intoned — wink, wink — that it would be healthy to have a primary fight with Sanders and Martin O’Malley.
But Bernie became the surprise belle of his side’s revolutionary ball. And now he has gotten a taste of it and he likes it and he won’t let it go. He’s bedeviling the daylight out of Hillary.
(snip)
 The Bernie bro violence — chair throwing, sexist name-calling and feral threats — at the Nevada state party convention last weekend was denounced as “a scary situation” by his Senate colleague Barbara Boxer.Sanders condemned the violence while stoking the outrage, urging the Democratic Party to “open the doors, let the people in.” He flashed a bit of Trump, so sure in his belief that the system is rigged that he fed off the nasty energy.
My published comment:
Rather than examine the legitimate reasons why Hillary can't vanquish Bernie Sanders, Dowd finds it easier to reduce him to a grouchy cartoon character in order to make her point that Clinton is one of the most ineffectual presidential candidates in history.
Rather than examine why the "Berniebros" raised such a ruckus at the Nevada convention, it's easier to go with the MSM flow and airily dismiss them as a bunch of rude dudes. In keeping with the prescribed narrative, it must be all about the hurt feelings of multimillionaire Barbara Boxer and the angst of White House insiders too cowardly to be named.
No mention that the youth unemployment rate in Nevada reached Great Depression levels in the years after the crash, and that the state has had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.
 People are irate because the jobs haven't come back and the wages are stagnant. Most Americans report not having an extra $1,000 saved up for a household emergency.
Women aren't "swooning" over Bernie. We don't vote with our XX chromosomes based upon the charisma of the candidate. Many of us like Sanders because of his proposals: universal health care, debt-free college, and getting the corrupt oligarchic money out of our politics once and for all.
All the voters need to be heard, regardless of his slim-to-none chance for the nomination. Contrary to the propaganda, he is not in it for himself. He never has been.
Trump v. Clinton is not an election. It's emotional blackmail.
 ***

Update, 5/24

Well, well, well. The embattled Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic politburo blinked first. Was it the specter of her primary challenger, Tim Canova, raising some seriously big bucks and publicity off the Sanders surge that convinced them to give him an "unprecedented" one-third of the party's platform committee delegates? Partially. But I think it's really Hillary's tanking poll numbers that propelled such a magnanimous (and desperate) gesture on their part. Clinton will have to continue to pretend to pivot leftward for awhile longer, at least until after the convention, to broadcast the illusion of "party unity."
And by the way, the inclusion of such party "outsiders" as leftist firebrand Cornel West and Palestinian rights activist James Zogby at this corporate-sponsored convention is great news, despite the fact that party platforms usually turn out to be nothing but public relations window dressing.

The much-maligned "rudeness" of the Sandernistas is already reaping some rewards and concessions. The next step is how, where, and when the surge of progressivism will continue, outside and past the presidential nomination and election processes.

32 comments:


  1. http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/bill_clinton_the_republicans_m.php

    ReplyDelete
  2. 08:00 AM So I turn on the computer and after looking at the weather forecast I check the mail. First item: News Alert! President Peace Prize to lift arms embargo on Vietnam. (Ca-ching! New records in arms sales, our greatest export in the manufacturing sector. Is the Pentagon working towards self-funding and complete independence from congressional budgets, an economic parallel of the no draft, all volunteer army?)

    Next item in the mailbox, another News Alert!: Obama confirms droning into oblivion the top Taliban leader of Afghanistan. (That will quiet them down.)

    Next item: It's the digital headlines from the NYT. And what is the top story of the day? "Untold Damage: America's Overlooked Gun Violence." (Overlooked by whom?)

    Next item: For comic relief I opened up Chris Hedges's Monday Morning essay. (Yes, I subscribe. Like the snow and cold of Ottawa's winters, it builds character.) Hedges reviews the last moments of Rosa Luxemburg, the advanced stages of capitalism and now the Bernie connection. Oh-oh. Here's a taste.

    "In an understanding that eludes many Bernie Sanders supporters, Luxemburg also grasped that socialism and imperialism were incompatible. She would have excoriated Sanders’ ostrichlike refusal to confront American imperialism. Imperialism, she understood, not only empowers a war machine and enriches arms merchants and global capitalists. It is accompanied by a poisonous ideology—what social critic Dwight Macdonald called the “psychosis of permanent war”—that makes socialism impossible."
    http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/reform_or_revolution_20160522

    09:00 AM What's the takeaway? Bernie and the rest of us have it ass backwards. Before we take down the bankers and the superrich to create a more egalitarian and just society, we must first deal with the generals. Without a radical change in foreign policy ("foreign policy" being the US euphemism for war making), there will be no economic relief on the domestic front, and no civil society at home.

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  3. Agreed, Jay.

    My defense of Bernie is a push-back against the coordinated attacks on him from the party apparatus. I had lost the Bern completely a month or so ago when he appeared on a town hall TV show and said he would continue with Obama's drone assassinations, and even suggested that the dirty Saudis need to get their hands even dirtier.

    But the recent media onslaught, actually a hysterical witch hunt, lead by the likes of Krugman, goes way beyond the pale. What's more, they are essentially attacks on the New Deal and leftists in general. I am under no illusions about Bernie's socialist bona fides. I am merely happy that he continues to expose the corruption of the Duopoly, albeit in piecemeal fashion. (And, he got started way, way too late in my opinion). But if he wants to attack the loathsome Debbie Wasserman Schultz, more power to him. Still, even if she is ousted to placate the masses, it will not make one iota of difference. It'll be just another crumb. There are many more flacks just like her waiting in the wings.

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  4. Well, we DO vote with our XX now and again... It never hurts to be not only a good candidate and the right person AND attractive in the bargain. Consider Kennedy, after all. But there was more to him and Bobby than looks. They embodied something America was looking for, a positive way forward. Women aren't the only persons who notice appearance. I recently heard a supposedly intelligent fella who considers himself a liberal, at my own dinner table, express disdain for Bernie because his wife wasn't attractive enough. I mean... really? Really? And the Sarah Palin phenom.. I mean, what was that but an insane vote by ignorant men for a pair of legs and a hairdo?

    I'm an OLD woman, and a die-hard Bernie fan for good reasons. Will not vote for Hill no matter what, Will write in Bernie or vote Jill Stein before I vote for Hill.

    An excellent article, Karen. Refreshingly original, as always. From a long time fan at

    http://roadblues-kitty.blogspot.com/

    Where we're writing about the Austrians, and wondering, are we all Austrians now?

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  5. Jay: you left out the polls showing Hillary losing more and more to Trump giving Bernie a chance to stay in the race. Also the increasing dislike of Hillary/Trump by the public making the Democratic Convention more and more fascinating.
    And Bernie is much more with it on foreign policy than he is publicly letting on and is not in Hillary's league on that issue.

    Otherwise the start of a Political Revolution may be more possible than previously believed come Convention time and that is good news.

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  6. Jay, I too looked at those NYT news alerts, and then kind of zoned-out. It is now 10:52 AM and James Howard Kunstler has not updated Clusterfuck Nation for Monday, May 23,2016. I am unable to start my work week without reading it, so perhaps it is time to switch to Hedges. I just talked to my wife who is driving into Middlebury to get stuff and she wants me to do all this stuff and as I rolled my eyes I kept thinking, but I have not read Clusterfuck Nation for this week. I can't do anything. Such is life in Exceptional AmeriKa.

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  7. Rest assured at this stage of the game I'm still pulling for Bernie––but only as the lesser of three evils––and trusting, kinda, that the Sanders bashing and his measured push back isn't a fake fight to distract us from the sheepdogging scenario.

    How come Sanders has missed so many opportunities to bury Trump and Clinton and their Duopoly with the likelihood to move on as POTUS with a plurality in a three-way race in November?

    And if Sanders falls short in the delegate count at the convention and endorses Hillary, will we still respect him then?

    To return to the earlier point, no credible campaign under a revolutionary or reform banner can be waged without addressing the systematic, organized national policy of murder. The Pentagon and its well-armed customers work efficiently; the greedy pursue the same business at a more leisurely pace.

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  8. "Lesser of three evils" is perfect, Jay! Now here's a short-but-sweet Frank Zappa quote for everyone before I mosey on over to truthdig to hang with Hedges: Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.

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  9. Karen.... thanks for a brilliant analysis. Yes this is the underlying media message:
    “Either Bernie and his supporters take the loyalty oath to the Empress-in-Waiting right now, or the election of Trump and the rise of a fascist state will be totally on them.”

    Let’s face it. That means the US political powers that be of both parties perceive the resuscitation of the New Deal as much of a threat to the elites now as the HUAC Red Scare Committee perceived the threat of Soviet Communism. It's all money but sold as protections of our 'Freedoms'. Instead of SS, Medicare, h/c for all, and financial regulation by govt being hallmarks of modern democracy, they are really threats to private property and free enterprise.

    We the people are up against more than just some habitual budget cutters.

    The exaggerated fears of Sanders by the media show the real blockages built in to our politics against economic equality and democracy. Neither party can move represent us.

    Many now believe that govt action by democratically elected lawmakers to apply the rule of law to financial monopolies, and to benefit the majority of average people is something we should all fear, not welcome. Govt action transformed into the road to intrusive tyranny against Americanism itself.

    The end result, which many voters still don’t grasp is that we the people have no means to get representation for our taxation—the cry of the American rebels against King George---and no political mechanisms to redress our grievances. We’d have done better in the long run by staying a British colony like Canada, Australia---we’d have h/c for all now, and maybe have avoided the bank crash, as Canada did.

    Gilens and Page---where are you on the media now, or where are those who support your research to tell the public how most of our laws are passed per wishes of the 1 percent?

    Too bad space has to wasted in the Times on Dowd, who is a caricature that shames a once respected paper. Krugman is starting to imitate her with his emotionalism and exaggeration. They both couch their nastiness in clever, stylish prose---and both belong in The Style Section of the NYT. Or for PK, the Economics Style section!

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  10. See NYT op ed today, ‘Bill Clinton, Economy Czar?’ and comments.

    My comment too late to get in...

    Trump will attack a Bill co presidency with all his nasty ammunition—it won’t be pretty. Bill was a republican president, just not so extreme as today’s crazies. He and Hill will be now be running against another kind of repub. This election will get even weirder.

    Bill’s signing of Repub sponsored financial dereg started the fuse that exploded in the 08 crash, giving a green light to bank crime. His ending welfare plus expanding prisons and harsh sentencing plus sending jobs away with Nafta delivered knock out triple punches to millions of families.
    It sure has been spun differently.

    Get ready for spin and distortions on both sides, while we the people wait and hope to be represented. How will the media report our 1st husband/wife co –dependency presidency?

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  11. I am with Cat. I cannot bring myself to vote for Hillary or Trump--no more of this crap about choosing the lesser of two evils. I refuse.

    We need to oust as many of these establishment politicians as possible.

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  12. The Real News Network is live-streaming Ralph Nader's 'Breaking Through Power' conference. Today is day #2 of 4 days. I believe tomorrow will be on the topic of ending endless wars. What a lineup every day! Watch it live at: https://www.breakingthroughpower.org/

    Ralph also has links to earlier presentations at his twitter account: https://twitter.com/RalphNader

    Real News Network is at http://therealnews.com/t2/

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  13. Can Sanders' money swamp Wasserman Schultz?
    Bernie Sanders is staking some of his post-presidential campaign legacy on a challenger to the DNC chair.
    By Elena Schneider

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/bernie-sanders-big-bet-223539#ixzz49cmf6WYA


    Bernie's plans for the future

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  14. http://www.thenation.com/article/sanders-picks-and-allies-could-write-a-boldly-progressive-platform/

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  15. OT: Haven't seen this covered in the Main stream media


    http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36143-source-reveals-how-pentagon-ruined-whistleblower-s-life-and-set-stage-for-snowden-s-leaks

    Also covered in the Guardian and on Democracy Now

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  16. May be and probably is a coincidence but the timing of this after the recent revelations of I G authority inadequacies is interesting, anyway.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/hillary-clinton-email-inspector-general-report-223553

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  17. Thanks Karen for update re expansion of Dem platform (what will Barney Frank say?)----saw on TV yest--- 1st interesting news in a while...and interesting people---Cornell West--critic of Obama from the Left.
    Nothing so far in NYT. Maybe they'll report it tomorrow?

    ** ** **

    Here’s my comment to Edsall column today re Trump/Clinton and the Dem party:

    I'd like to see a column on how the Dem establishment are the ones disuniting and weakening the party. They have to change as we see Trumpf's successes increase steadily, contradicting predictions.

    The Dems talk about uniting the party against the Trump threat and blame Sanders for disuniting and attacking Hillary from the Left.
    The party, Debbie W. S., Barney Frank and Rendell etc, are the ones who need to unite with the majority of Americans.

    Don't disparage voters with labels of " Left Wing", who only want an end to Dem/Repub corporate policies that harm millions---re jobs, pay, h/c, education, retirement, bank regulations, and want an end to payoffs by big money "donors" to push those interests. We're tired of the media reporting only in terms of fund raising, polls, and personalities. This is not what democracy looks like.

    We want politicians to work for the majority, as they did in past generations when the middle class was expanding not contracting, and before the plutos were allowed to take over. The media isn't reporting this contrast, b/c it might actually validate some of Sanders' ideas.

    Therefore, Dems must turn Left! Not fringe, just leftward. Incorporate the Sanders ideas-which were once mainstream liberal--and combine the voters for Sanders and HRC both in a massive coalition to defeat Trump---or else the White House band will be playing not hail to the chief, but Heil to Der Trumpf.

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  18. Also....Maybe the Trump success, confounding everyone, is good in the end. (or else it might be the End). Maybe the better Trump does in the polls , the more the Dem party will be forced Left. Trump may accomplish what Bernie Sanders couldn’t. What irony.

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  19. I will repeat my dream. Bernie will be allowed to fight Trump because Hillary's numbers are too low and he will win, getting rid of Trump and Hillary in one fell swoop and taking command of the Oval office. Tim Donovan will become the vice president and Trump will be exiled to Mexico where he might be raped.



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  20. Have we already taken note of the movement collecting signatures to urge Bernie to run as an independent? Of course, you must write in your email address in the process of signing the petition, after which you will receive on a regular basis emails asking for money to support the campaign. Probably legitimate, but judge for yourself:
    http://movement4bernie.org/

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  21. I was under the impression Sanders had said he wouldn't run as an Independent. Or, for that matter, in a third party run. Do you expect him to change his mind? Would it change your opinion of him?

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  22. At this point Bernie is the only thing standing between what's left of American democracy and the new age of plutocracy. He is a thin thread to hang on to, but what other serious choice is there?

    So, a Seattle councilwoman has started a petition to have him set up a new party, a party of the 99%, as it says on her website. 32,000 signatures so far and counting. A couple of million by next Thursday, 08:00 AM, might bring Bernie around to seriously considering the idea.

    Even if Bernie lost as head of a third party in the general election, assuming he would run as if his life depended on it, the impact would be profound and salutary.

    Would his heading a third party, possibly with Jill Stein, change my opinion of him? Upon careful consideration, I believe I would, at very least, kneel as he passed in the streets.

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  23. Pearl said...
    Obama must apologize for his actions at Hiroshima http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emanuel-pastreich/-obama-must-apologize-abo_b_10144914.html via @theworldpost

    May 26, 2016 at 12:10 PM



    (moved up from end of last column by mistake)

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  24. Doug (Doktor) RichardsonMay 26, 2016 at 5:01 PM

    Calling Brian Schweitzer!!!

    Bernie Sanders simply does not have the same type of baggage as Hillary Clinton, he would be able to withstand the withering attempts at character assassination from the 'stubs, he would also bring millions and millions and millions of new voters from all walks of life into the process, tearing both houses away from the 'stubs, allowing America a chance to deal with the critically pressing issues of this new century.

    Because today we have heard from the State Department that Clinton once ran - and they do not have nice things to say about her!
    This is very bad news for Hillary - but even worse - it's extremely bad news for all of the Democrats who believed her when she LIED to them!
    So now we're all left waiting for the other shoe to drop - The FBI investigation, which will most likely not be kind to Clinton either - even if she isn't found guilty of any direct criminal wrongdoing, she will almost certainly be found culpable of some type of negligence - all of which goes to SUPPORT republican claims of her unsuitability for higher office, making Trump ever more likely to win the Presidential Election and cement republican holds on both houses of congress.

    Also very bad news for a certain DNC Chair who decided early on to hitch her little blue wagon to the Clinton train...
    Debbie Wasserman-Schultz needs to step down immediately.

    Based on any objective reading of her performance she should have been out two years ago, after she lost more seats for the Democrats than anyone in the last 80 years! - but she can raise money - or could, now even that poor excuse for ignoring her failures is gone.
    DWS is divisive, she loses elections and now she can't even raise the necessary funds to fight off the 'stubs.
    This is a make or break election cycle for the Democrats. If they lose another round of seats in State and Federal races the Democratic party will be out of power for decades.
    REPLACE HER NOW while there is still time to save this election - the clock is ticking - Recruit Brian Schweitzer!

    I know quite a few people who are life long Democrats - President Obama was the first Dem I voted for for Prez - twice - but they all said much the same thing; President Obama deserted us on his own calls and many campaign promises for accountability from the Bush administration and the Banking/Wall Street crowd as soon as he got into office - no investigations, no indictments, no nothing - they all got off scott free! THAT'S WHY 2010 was such a blowout, Tim Kaine was the unfortunate DNC chair at the time, but every single loss since then has been a direct reflection of DWS failures. I like her as person, I even think she's kind of cute - in a straggly, lost puppy sort of way - but as DNC Chair? A total, dismal failure and I REFUSE to give one more cent of my extremely hard earned money.
    The thing is - Hillary Clinton has given no indication that she would do anything different to the Bush criminals or the bank fraudsters - more of the same will lead to - more of the same.

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  25. Doug: DWS a kind of cute kind of lost puppy? Go back in time to her views about Israel and its friendship to the U.S. approving taxpayers' money going out to their oppressive acts toward the Palestinians. I was never so proud of Bernie as when he made a strong statement about Israel's inhumane treatment of their Palestinian neighbors and now is calling for her resignation should he win.

    Otherwise I agree with your views. Thank you.

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  26. It was a significant event for me, this past primary, to vote for Sanders. No previous candidates in previous elections gave me any incentive to vote, at all, since the ballot is missing a 'NOTA' option. Even so, and having been willing to vote for Sanders for President long before he began to campaign for the position, I can't see myself donning knee pads--even thick ones ; )

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  27. I can't WAIT to watch Bernie and Trump debate. I think Bernie just pulled the ultimate Trump card on Hillary. The networks will fight over who gets to sponsor that, or at least those that dare displease Queen Hillary, so that limits things. Fox will surely take it. Bernie's asking for the biggest event arena they have in California. This is going to be WILD! Wish I could be in that audience. Think of the stark contrast between those two and the national exposure they've denied Bernie all along. Statesman Sanders v Buffoon Trump. I love it!

    Hillary is going to be soooo sorry she refused to debate Bernie in California as she agreed. Another broken promise and more bad judgment.

    I just sent Bernie another contribution to help him win California. I also think of it as buying a ticket for the Fight of the Century. Bernie's got the fighting spirit that we've all been waiting for. I guess it took a lot of dirty tricks from Hillary for him to finally get his dukes up. Knock em both out, Bernie!

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  28. Jimmy Kimmel instigated the Sanders-Trump debate by asking Bernie to offer a question for Trump, then Trump for Bernie.

    Bernie - “Hillary Clinton backed out of an agreement to debate me in California before the June 7th primary. Are you prepared to debate the major issues facing our largest state and the country prior to the California primary?”

    Trump's turn - “Bernie, you have been treated very unfairly, both primary systems are rigged. Will you run as an independent when Debra Wasserman Schultz and the Democrats steal the nomination from you?”

    I sure hope this happens. It would be so much fun!

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  29. Annenigma: Better yet, a great debate between Bernie and Trump will make the superdelegates think twice about whom to vote for in the Democratic nomination and who has the best chance of defeating Trump.
    Bernie's oratorical skills could save the day and put him in the driver's seat. My ultimate dream.
    Hillary seems to be doing everything wrong to attract voters and the email controversy isn't going to disappear. Tepid responses by her advisors and her silence on this hot topic are very revealing. Hope the FBI isn't silenced but that would also send out a negative message.
    Let's hope Bernie is permitted to choose more real progressives to represent the Democratic party which I think indicates to me that he is staying with the party but will fight to change how they run things from within.

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  30. flame thrower PearlMay 27, 2016 at 9:28 PM


    Editorial
    Hillary Clinton, Drowning in Email
    By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
    The candidate must give candid answers to questions raised in a report from the State Department inspector general.

    Or, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://nyti.ms/25ldGGt


    Don't miss the almost 4000 angry responses.

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  31. With Clinton’s Nixonian Email Scandal Deepening, Sanders Must Demand Answers
    http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/27/with-clintons-nixonian-email-scandal-deepening-sandes-must-demand-answers/

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  32. I understand that Clinton would prefer not to debate Trump or Sanders at this stage in California, and that Trump is backing away from the one-on-one debate he sort-of agreed to with Sanders. Why? Because he deems Sanders an unworthy opponent, merely the lesser (er, least) of the three lesser evils.

    I suggest that, hereafter, Bernie Bros protesting at both Trump and Clinton rallies print on their signs and call out at full voice the following message wherever those two front runners appear:

    CLUCK-cluck-cluck…PETAAAWCK! CLUCK-cluck-cluck….

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