Jack Rabbit
Jack Rabbit's JournalThe Nevada Convention proves the point Bernie has been running on for a year
the establishment -- the leaders of corporations, the leadership of both major political parties, major mainstream media outlets, Hillary Clinton herself, Donald Trump himself, and their donors and campaign organizations -- are corrupt, totally corrupt, conniving liars, irresponsible, unprofessional, undemocratic and totally unworthy of any position of leadership or responsibility in a democratic state. They should be removed from power immediately and replaced by a transparent, open, inclusive and democratic system of popular government.
Down with the Robber Barons! Power to The People!
I won't go quite that far
It is clear that Roberta Lange played highhanded in a manner not suitable to a democratic process. Ms. Lange's behavior is consistent with shutting down discussion and imposing her predetermined rules, not deciding what the rules should be and then going forward after debate and deliberation..
To me, that sounds less like incompetence and more like willful tyranny.
The party establishment doesn't want to split the Democratic Party, but what they want is entirely unreasonable. They want us Sandernistas to lay down and take it and vote for Mrs. Clinton in November and give her carte blanche for whatever she plans to do. That's out of the question. No citizen owes the president that kind of loyalty, whether the citizen voted for that president or any one else. Several weeks ago, I came across a post by a Camp Weathervane dweller claiming that any good Democrat always supports a Democratic president. Really? He must be awfully young and naive. I'd like to talk to that greenhorn and tell him how we Democrats supported Lyndon Johnson and his dirty little war in Vietnam back in '68. It really was one of our prouder moments.
I would suggest to my fellow Sandernistas that we keep our council for now. I'm tired of being told our opinions count for nothing, that in spite of mounting an impressive insurgency against the party establishment that we should have no place at the table and stilll ought to work without question for the election of a president who will let crooked bankers off the hook, puts combat troops in the Middle East and pursue more trade deals and more trickle-down economics, all policies that have been disastrous for the overwhelming majority of the American people of both parties. If the party grandees want our support, they will have to talk to us as equals. Otherwise, it is Roberta Lange, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton who have excluded us from the party. The onus is on them get us back if they want our help.
I expect Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump in November. Whether she does or doesn't, we will see if the party leaders wish to reconcile with us. If not, we may have to make a decision how to move forward without the support of the party establishment. the divide will simply continue at least through 2018.
Please don't exaggerate
I am speaking only for myself.
There are not hundreds, or even dozens, posting here whose threats to not vote for Hillary should be taken seriously. Right now, it doesn't look like Mrs. Clinton is going to have any trouble defeating Trump and defeating him soundly. Those circumstances may change over the summer and, if so, so will their reluctance to vote for Mrs. Clinton. In that case, more, although doubtlessly not all, will vote for Mrs. Clinton. Remember the bumper stickers from the 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial election, which pitted Edwin Edwards against David Duke? It's important -- Vote for the crook! That may be the attitude of many when November comes around. Nobody, except other proto-Nazis, really wants to see a proto-Nazi with an atrocious combover in the White House.
I know someone, personally, who says he will vote for Trump ahead of Clinton, but he'll probably vote for Jill Stein. He and I see Mrs. Clinton almost the same way. For me, she is the most problematic Democratic nominee pf my lifetime, and I'm 64 years old. She is committed to policies that have have only succeeded in widening the income gap, curtailing civil liberties, weakening labor unions and killing manufacturing jobs while taking money from Wall Street, which gives it to her in order to remain deregulated and crooked. I'll vote for her in order to block Trump, but I'm not expecting anything positive form her.
I am committed not to making Mrs. Clinton a successful president because I do not believe she can possibly be a successful president. I am committed to helping others lay the groundwork for an anti-neoliberal revolution.
My first election was in 1972 when I voted for McGovern
I was optimistic when Carter won, but he spent four years spinning his wheels trying to get a handle on what he was doing. Carter was president when I got married and our first child was born. Runaway inflation made it a miserable time to start a family. He gets a C-. I like Carter personally and wish he had done better.
I was optimistic when Bill Clinton won, but was disappointed when at the end of his eight years he failed to reverse the middle class squeeze that became epidemic under Reagan and Bush the Preppy. Clinton at slowed down the rate of the increase in the income gap, so I will award him the best president of my lifetime, in spite of pursuing a basically Republican policy that featured a disastrous trade agreement (NAFTA) and an equally disastrous deregulation of finance industry that set the stage for the crash of 2008. While Reagan and Bush the Preppy each get a D-, Bill Clinton gets a C.
Bush the Frat Boy served two full terms as president despite never being elected to either. He began two wars, one premised on a pack of lies and allowed large amounts of funds to AWOL in one them; he pushed upper class tax cuts that were supposed to create jobs and growth, but produced the opposite and capped off his his tenure in the White House with the global market crash of 2008, although much of that was caused by Clinton's unwise deregulation of Wall Street, as already noted. Nevertheless, the Frat Boy either didn't see it coming or just had no will to do anything to stop it. This led to the TARP program in which crooked Wall Street banks were bailed out, the last big heist of the Bush administration. The Frat Boy gets an F.
I was utterly giddy about the election of Obama, who promised national health insurance, the end of the Iraq War, to employ a less`belligerent foreign policy and restore lost civil liberties at home. His healthcare package was a big improvement over the largely privatized system that preceded did not include a public option and let millions to remain uninsured. Spying on American citizens by the NSA began during the Frat Boy's tenure and Obama continued it without apologies. He got us out of Iraq, but then started us well on a primrose path back. He will pass to his successor the war in Afghanistan, which he also inherited from Bush the Frat Boy. His goal of a less belligerent foreign policy has similarly mixed results. Obama's greatest success has been due to his preference for negotiating with adversaries as opposed to simply going to war as a first option. The best example of this is the nucl;ear deal with Iran. On the other hand, Obama continues belligerent action in the world's trouble spots with drone strikes that have a high likelihood of creating a great deal of collateral damage. Otherwise, upon taking office, Obama failed to prosecute Bush administration war criminals or Wall Street criminals who nearly destroyed the world economy. Although Wall Street fraud continues, Obama's justice department has only levied fines to punish the banks for their misbehavior and failed to bring any criminal case against any crooked bank executive.. To date, this has failed to abate Wall Street fraud. Finally, Obama has continued negotiating free trade deals that hurt American workers and make it easier for corporations to avoid taxes and bring cases against governments challenging their right to mandate limits on pollution or occupational safety and health standards. Obama's legacy will look a lot better if the three remaining trade pacts he has in the queue fail to pass Congress. Obama gets a C-.
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Gender: MaleHometown: Sacramento Valley, California
Member since: 2001
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