I hope we can all now agree that it appears BLM is leading a targeted attack on Bernie Sanders. Between upstaging two of his events and now unveiling their laser-focused-on-justice hashtag #BowDownBernie, it seems priorities 1, 2, and 3 are submarining his campaign, with maybe priority 4 being something to do with saving black lives.
Now, I have an uncomfortable truth for people: organized attacks on a candidate NEVER come out of a vacuum. It literally just never happens - I would love to hear a story about an organized group that came out strongly against a candidate that WASN'T affiliated with an opposition candidate. It would be the first I know of.
So I'm reacting to this the same way I reacted in 2004 when a group of "Swift Boat Veterans for Justice" started attacking John Kerry: This is an organized bullying campaign to attack Bernie Sanders on a key issue, carried out under the auspices of Black Lives Matter. And they aren't just attacking, they're actively subverting the Democratic process and stopping him from campaigning. It needs to stop, now.
Let's start with the first thing - this has absolutely nothing to do with racial justice. Police brutality against black youth is a national tragedy and needs to be addressed as a top priority by all candidates. But, it seems BLM has little interest in actually addressing this issue - taking over the stage when Bernie Sanders is supposed to speak does absolutely nothing to help, and likely is actually counterproductive.
So please quit with the "this is exactly why Bernie has a problem with black people" CT. If I and 20 other put on shirts that said "Don't throw puppies off cliffs" and storm the stage at a political event, the candidate wanting me off the stage and/or ignoring does not mean that candidate is pro-puppy cliff throwing. It means that I'm being an obnoxious asshole and I don't get rewarded for it. And on that note, Bernie does not owe anyone a discussion or an audience. You do not get an audience with a presidential candidate by harassing the candidate and forcefully shutting down the candidate's events. Exactly the opposite.
And finally, back to the original thesis - that this is an organized effort pushed by someone other than BLM. I am not saying it's Hillary. There are plenty of people who don't want to see Bernie Sanders become president, and it wouldn't take much money to allow a roaming group of harassers to upstage Bernie Sanders events. But I will have to say it is awfully convenient that all these events are "evidence" to a central talking point of Hillary's over the last month - Bernie Sanders Has A Problem With Black People. Sort of like how the Swift Boaters popped up and conveniently pushed the meme that John Kerry wasn't a real military hero, backing up a point Bush and Rove desperately wanted to push.
But this is going a step further - they aren't just attacking Bernie Sanders. They are actively stopping him from taking the stage at his own campaign events. This is utterly shameful and is actually subverting the Democratic process. This is where what is going on really crosses the line from dirty campaigning to banana republic BS. You want to beat Bernie Sanders? Go out and deliver a message that connects with more voters than his does. Or point out the flaws in his message. But don't try to stop him from speaking, and do it in such a way that stirs up racial tensions.
I am sure some are going to read this and call it a conspiracy theory. But I stress again that if you're looking for the source of a series of targeted negative attacks on a political candidate, the only irrational answer is "it just happened organically". Because that literally never happens. So tell me, where is this anti-democratic bullying coming from? And when does it stop?