I don't know if this has been posted yet. Pelosi stood up for Bernie & PRAISED his campaign.

[jillan]

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/280609-pelosi-defends-sanders-a-positive-force-for-dems

Pelosi defends Sanders: A 'positive force' for Dems

excerpts:

National party leaders have become increasingly concerned that Sanders's extended primary contest with front-runner Hillary Clinton will bruise the Democrats' image while distracting from the party's ultimate fight against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

But Pelosi hailed Sanders for energizing young voters, arguing that his appeal will play to the advantage of all Democrats in November.

"Bernie Sanders is a positive force in the Democratic Party," Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol.

"He has awakened in some people an interest in the political process that wasn't there. He has encouraged young people to channel their interest in public service and community leadership into a political place, because this is where decisions are made that'll affect their future and their lives. And I think that's positive."

Pelosi, who has not endorsed a presidential candidate

and love this.....

Pelosi also rejected the comparisons some are making between the conflicts underlying this year's primary contest and the violence that erupted during the Democratic National Convention in 1968, which she attended.

She characterized the 1968 gathering as "a colossal … clashing of people who had a completely different view about the [Vietnam] War and how we go forward." The two political environments have "nothing in common," she said, and conflating the contests is "ridiculous."

"We were at war in Vietnam. That fueled the unhappiness," she said. "That matter was handled in a way that was not appropriate."

Pelosi said she's encouraged by the enthusiasm Sanders has generated among his millions of supporters. Still, she said Democratic leaders also have a responsibility to convey to those new to the process "that there are rules that exist."

"The exuberance of our members is always something wonderful to behold," Pelosi said, "and at some point to channel."

Wow!!! THIS is how DWS should be acting right now. Thank you Pelosi for being a leader representing ALL the Dems during this primary.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

1. K&R Thank You! Bookmarked

[djean111]

2. I think that what we are seeing is just the start of "making nice" so that Bernie's

supporters will all pivot to Hillary.

Not buying it. Sorry. Pelosi's job is to "arrange" things so that she gets the desired result without pissing off voters, like assuring a Senator that he can safely vote no on a bill because she has enough yes votes, if his constituents are touchy about the bill.

Like Lily Tomlin, I worry that no matter how cynical I am, it is not enough.

[jillan]

3. Agreed but - she is a superdelegate that hasn't endorsed. That sincerely impresses me.

Anyway, she is doing what a leader should do by coming out and not dismissing Bernie and his supporters.
In comparison to Madam Secretary who announced on CNN that she IS the nominee.

[appalachiablue]

7. A smart gesture by Pelosi, especially considering the damage and effect of other Dems.

[MissDeeds]

5. I agree completely with you, djean111

I'm not buying it either. It's a thinly veiled attempt to make nice and bring us into the fold. She sure as hell kept her mouth shut a long time while Bernie was being marginalized and his candidacy thwarted at every turn and his supporters vilified and accused of all manner of shenanigans.

I will not fall in line and vote for their corporate loving, war mongering deceitful candidate. Never going to happen.

[Phlem]

9. yep.

and spot on.

[dreamnightwind]

4. It's better than nothing, feels like damage control though

and I completely disagree with her statements about this situation vs. 1968.

She characterized the 1968 gathering as "a colossal … clashing of people who had a completely different view about the War and how we go forward." The two political environments have "nothing in common," she said, and conflating the contests is "ridiculous."

The Bernie campaign IS a completely different view about wars and about how we go forward. No matter how the establishment tries to convince us that we're all on the same page, we're not, not even close.

Corporate money makes damn certain of that. It has its own agenda, and infinite resources to convince us to not believe our own lying eyes.

The endless wars, poverty, incarceration, opposition to populist reforms and candidates, the failure to launch a moon-shot or Manhattan-project scale effort (we need one at a much larger scale than either of those) to stop climate change as we are passing unthinkable climate tipping points, the dependence on corporate money and corporate media to astro-turf phony candidates into perceived legitimacy, this is what we're dealing with.

1968 had nothing on this. I have no idea how the Democratic convention will unfold. My guess is the police state will succeed in keeping protesters far away from the site, so that their protests can be mostly ignored, unless they get violent, in which case it will get tons of attention and used to delegitimize the protester's demands. Dissent inside the convention itself will be very heavily managed and controlled. So we may not get a repeat of the 1968 fiasco, but not because of less angst, instead because of greater control structures.

I hope with all my heart that we don't simply accept defeat and move forward with corporate Democratic hedgemony, that is unacceptable, and if it happens, we will have to find another way to continue this fight, which is about everything that matters in this world.

[appalachiablue]

6. We need a Marshall Plan for America, on a huge scale, and then some.