The primaries are over, the nominees are set, so what are the best options remaining for dyed-in-the-wool Bernie Sanders fans this November 8th?
On today’s BradCast, attorney, veteran and longtime legal analyst at The BRAD BLOG, Ernest A. Canning, who serves as a senior advisor to VetsForBernie.org, joins us to discuss his new article, “Revolution at a Crossroad”. [Audio link to show posted below.]
Canning walks through the pros and cons of the various possibilities (staying home, voting for the Libertarian or Green Party candidate, voting for Hillary Clinton, as Sanders suggests, or even, gasp, voting for Donald Trump) as now faced by hard-core Sanders supporters, before offering his recommendation for how best to vote in order to continue the Sanders-led “political revolution”. (Ernie also responds to a number of reader comments from the lively debate in response to his article.)
“I think the critical issue, and I think the question that every thinking progressive has to ask themselves is: ‘What is the most effective means for moving the goals of the democratic revolution forward?’,” he explains while we work through the potential options and outcomes.
Also today, the fight to restore the Voting Rights Act continues. Voting rights advocates on the ground in North Carolina and elsewhere are working hard to assure access to the polls for all this year, on the heels of a number of recent, very encouraging state and federal court victories. And national leaders are, once again, pressing Republicans in Congress to simply allow hearings to discuss ways to try and fix the landmark 1965 legislation after it was gutted by a rightwing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.
Finally, we wrap up today’s show with a few thoughts from liberal author and intellectual Noam Chomsky, on the threat posed by Donald Trump to the globe and, indeed, life on earth…
How can a Bernie Sanders supporter who believes in ethics vote in good conscience for Hillary Clinton?
The choice is clear. Jill Stein in 2016.
I haven’t heard the show yet (I’m downloading it for listening later in the evening), but my initial reaction to the principal question posed above (i.e. how do we keep Bernie’s revolution going?), is
something I have been thinking a lot about lately.
I came up with a plan I call (and the comma is important), “CT, and P”.
This stands for “Crush Trump, and Pivot”.
Trump as President would be catastrophic to all things Progressives hold dear. If Hillary is chicken-pox (nasty but usually survivable), Trump is weaponized-Anthrax (not survivable, period).
He must be defeated.
But once he is, Progressives’ work will be just beginning.
Note:L If Trump wins, the main work of Progressives in ahostile rw environment will be largely to just hang on and survive, if they can. Not desirable, IMO.
BTW, the comma is the MOMENTARY pause at election day, and subsequent hangover, which Progressives must recover from quickly, in order to be able to take quick action at what will be a critical juncture in time. But that’s for a bit later.
Up until election day, it is up to each and every Progressive to decide for themselves how to vote.
In California, I actually have the luxury of NOT voting for Hillary, as long as she maintains a nice double-digit lead here in which case I’ll probably vote for Jill Stein.
If somehow, Hillary’s lead were to shrink hugely (to under 10%), I would get the proverbial closepins out and vote for HC. as I would do if I lived in a swing-state. Because of my healthy fear of Trump, I cannot entirely let go of cold-hearted strategy.
But that’s me.
Hopefully enough Progressives will find clothespins to wear when voting in swing states to help crush Trump.
But the really REALLY big thing I believe Progressives everywhere need to be thinking about NOW, is: What do we do IMMEDIATELY after election day, when the search for cabinet positions commences, and as an added special treat, the possibility arises that our Senators and Congressmen and President may suddenly make a last-minute dash to push TPP through in the lame-duck session in December. We have to be ready, as I am sure Bernie is.
But there is still more for Progressives to think about:
If Hillary doesn’t come through on her progressive promises on MANY domestic policies, and is either indifferent or goes corporate, as many expect, how long into her administration do Progressives wait to abandon HC and the Democratic Party?
When, and at WHICH POLICIES, DO WE DRAW THE LINE?
Also, aggresive military actions risking wider war would be another area of concern, and could also spurn an exodus (especially if Progressives can get a peace-movement going).
Any “exodus” would be the last part of the “pivot”, But—-If TPP is toppled and HC puts some Progressives in big cabinet posts, and pushes some MAJOR Progressive issues, then the last part of the pivot (in the best-case scenario) may not even be be necessary.
OK, that may be optimistic, but I think we should follow Bernie’s lead and take HC on good faith, for now, but watch her like a hawk, and be ready to jump, in mass-numbers, after the election.
If things go bad with Hillary, Progressives will have the righteous indignation of being outrageously double-crossed after trusting HC in good faith, fueling the nest step—–Leaving the Democratic Party.
So my advice to Progressives is to “CT, and P”—-
CRUSH TRUMP, AND PIVOT.
There will be no rest for Progressives, reagrdless.
3 typos I located in my last post:
Unnecessary “L”,
“nest”=next,
last word in post is, “regardless”.
Sorry to post a 3rd time, but I realized the lyric, “Crush Trump and Pivot” can be inserted into the Bert The Turtle cold-war era song, “Duck and Cover”. At least 1 little part of it.
Let’s all sing it, kids:
…When the demagogue comes, you won’t get hurt, just …
Crush Trump and Pivot,
Crush Trump and Pivot!
Yeah, we cold-war babies are weird.
I blame it on the 3rd-grade nuke drills.
I thought it appropriate that I post Dr. Victoria Cassano’s full comment from the Veterans for Bernie site that we discussed during the interview.
Agree with almost everything you say in the article. Since I was at the platform committee, I realize how far to the left, we drove the democratic party. I also agree with the concept of strategic voting.
What I don’t agree with is painting Jill Stein as an “ideal” progressive substitute for Bernie. She accepts corporate money. Her foreign policy, while happily progressive is developed out of complete naivete about the world. Not that I disagree with many of her goals.
I will of course vote for Hillary…holding my nose all the way. I will also do my best to elect progressive down-ballot candidate, many of whom are endorsed by Bernie. My biggest 2 problems with her are my keen feeling of distrust that she will carry out any of the progressive policies she claimed as hers in order to gain the support of Bernie Sanders and hopefully his supporters; and her extreme mawkishness. The planks on Israel and Iran are about the worst sabre rattling, I have come across in recent elections, and that was toned down from where DNC and HRC actually stand. I am fearful of the outcome of her having complete control of military intervention due to congresses inaction regarding the war powers act.
It will only be by continuous attention and action and activism on our part that the next four years will see any change in the corporatist, militaristic path we have chosen to follow.
Victoria A Cassano, MD, MPH (CAPT MC USN -ret)
CT representative to DNC Platform Committee for Bernie Sanders
CT State Coordinator – Vets for Bernie
I still go back to 77 MILLION dollars to take down Bill and Hillary Clinton. Four conservative news stations trashing the Clintons. I don’t know how many rightwing radio commentators trashing the Clintons. I wonder how many republicans would hold up under those conditions. Remember when Larry Flynt investigated the family value republicans and 5 of them got called to the carpet including one that was going to be speaker of the house. Then Hastert got the job and look at his background. Maybe we should set aside a few million to investigate each person before they are elected.
I will vote for Hillary and not hold my nose. She is far better than Trump.
Remember the guy that was appointed by the supreme court that was going to unite the two parties and ended up dividing the parties that the government doesn’t work for the people any more.
I haven’t heard Hillary say that some republicans should be hung from a tree or they should be shot in front of a firing squad or that her opponent should be assassinated. What really amazes me is the people that still supports people that make those comments. And the ones I know are all Christians.
I can’t stress this enough: It’s not quite mid-August now, and a lot can happen between now and November 8. A political lifetime. People who are insisting on voting for Jill Stein now may end up voting for Hillary by that time. On the other hand, Trump could implode into a heap of smoldering rags leaving the Republican party to scramble, too late, for a somewhat less fascistic replacement. It’s too early for anyone to tell. Don’t freak out.
The major parties have safeguards built in that ensure third parties will be shut out. The first debate will be on September 26. While the Green party is bigger than it was in 2000, it’s currently polling nationally at only 3%. The Libertarian party is about twice that amount. Both parties need numbers in three national polls making the threshold of 15% in order to get into the debates. Right now it looks like it won’t happen. Not enough states in place, status as a spoiler, and little media exposure for the Green party, and a congenitally unworkable ideology for the Libertarian party are preventing both of them from getting anywhere. Distractions, that’s all they are.
Neither the Green nor Libertarian party will even rise to the level of change agent. The most they can do this cycle is to be spoilers (sorry, had to say it). The change has been happening in the Democratic party. That’s where Bernie’s political revolution began and that’s what the revolution will continue to push from the inside and outside until it becomes a party that works for the people and not the corporations. Now I’ve written before about Brand New Congress and Our Revolution. These organizations are part of the political revolution that is ongoing and will continue to go on, Jill Stein notwithstanding.
Re: Jim Spriggs @7:
Thank you for your erudite and thoughtful comment.
Yes, I second Ernie’s praise of the sensible, real-world and reality-based comment from Jim Spriggs @#7.
I third it.
There is one minor point Jim Spriggs @7 makes with which I do not fully agree. While, from the perspective of the outcome of the 2016 presidential elections, Jill Stein may be seen as a “distraction,” to the extent that she adds to the national conversation about issues of substance, what she has to say is of value to the long term goals of the political revolution.
JILL STEIN 2016
GO GREEN !!!!!
…because the Establishment is fucking you, me and Mrs. Applegate in the ass and telling us it’s good….i’ll return the favor, and let’s see how they like it….i am not afraid….i do not capitulate….the Aristocracy expects me to ‘hold my nose’ haha!!….here, hold my dick, you Beltway motherfuckers….I will hold YOUR nose, you elite bastards, until you’re blue in the fucking face from your own advice….this will hurt you more than it does me…
I laugh out loud when some call this angry and irrational….sorry, you must be mistaking me for Jesus Christ….he hated these very same jagoffs a HELL of a lot more than little Melvin does…
JILL STEIN 2016
BECUZ FUCK THIS SHIT!!!
…and now a word from our sponsor.
Oh i think we all recognize what that word is, unfortunately….it’s the word “BE” trapped between an “o” and a “y”…
Behaving ourselves is what they’re praying for….i never want to see that person in the mirror…
This is the only thing we should focus on. Hillary rigging and stealing the Democratic nomination for President should be her crisis not ours.
Election fraud resource list:
1 – Stanford University Confirms Election Fraud – full report. click here
2 – Election Justice USA – Full report. An Electoral System in Crisis http://www.electoralsystemincrisis.or...
3 – Arizona Secretary of State Confirms Election Fraud click here
4 – Summary of Election Fraud in several state primaries. click here
5 – Committing Election Fraud in Iowa click here
6 – Election Fraud in the Massachusetts Primary click here
7 – Election Fraud in the NY Primary click here
8 – Election Fraud in the Michigan Primary click here
9 – Redacted Tonight: (video) Details of NY Primary Fraud click here
10- Redacted Tonight Interview (video) – click here The Democratic Presidential candidate you’ve never heard of, Rocky De La Funte Explains how the fraud was executed – and how he watched 900,000 votes disappear from the totals.
11 – Redacted Tonight: A Second Stanford University Study Shows Deeper Fraud – (video) click here Major voting machine companies actually donated heavily to the Clinton Foundation AND produced non-verifiable electronic voting results that drastically favored Hillary in an absurd contrast to 337 pre-election polls. video at RT.
12 -Redacted Tonight: Bernie Actually Won. video at RT. click here
13 – Finally: The Eruption of the Clinton Foundation Scandal click here
14 – Election Fraud in the 2016 Democratic Primaries – Just Doing the Math highbinder.org/election-fraud-…
15 – Phony Coin Tosses at the Iowa Caucuses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmkFYu... and
16 – Redacted Tonight (video) – Interview with Bob Fitrakis and Cliff Arnebeck, exit polling experts say they have proof of election fraud that benefited Clinton. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibK4de...
17 – It’s not just Arizona: Election Shenanigans have defined the Democratic Primary – and benefit Hillary Clinton click here
18 – CA Election Update – Links to Resources. Day 24 After the Election Greg Palast – List of Election Justice Resource Links click here
*****
The Election Fraud Resource List – How They Stole it from Bernie | OpEdNew
http://www.opednews.com/articl…
#15, broken or non-existent links and over-the-top conspiracy theory with no proof, etc. etc. as per the usual cuckoo bird devoid-of-reality mishegas.
Friends, sometimes a candidate one doesn’t like gets more votes than the candidate one does like. That’s not rigging; that’s democracy. Don’t fall into the CT trap where you start to think what you *believe* to be true is necessarily the actual reality. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Beliefs ≠facts.
Christie M. Mayo @14 writes:
I don’t doubt your sincerity in your belief that the nomination was stolen. But neither you nor any of the sources you’ve linked to provide the type of evidence that would be needed to mount a successful challenge to any of the more than 50 primary and caucus results in a court of law.
I placed your words “should be” in italics to highlight the fact that you have chosen to ignore reality — what is. There are no pending legal challenges in any state that seeks to overturn the results of a primary or caucus.
As I observed both in the article and during this broadcast, there’s no going back. There will be no “do-over” of any primary or caucus. For better or for worse, Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Party Presidential Nominee — a nominee who has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders.
Finally, I note that you referenced Arizona — presumably in relation to the long lines in Maricopa County. Hillary Clinton was not the source of those long lines. They were the product of a decision made by Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, a Republican, who deliberately imposed drastic cuts in the number of available polling places.
That decision, which appears designed to aid the Republican Party, is the subject of ongoing legal challenges in both state and federal courts.
Thank you, Ernie. But of course reality is not what some of the regular commenters here at BradBlog want to hear. Pity. It seems some are just as deluded and just as given to crazy conspiracy theories as the rightwingers. *sigh*