Edit: Bernie Sanders has released an official statement on the Nevada Democratic State Convention, you can view both parts of it in the pictures on this diary.
Robert Reich: "Debbie Wasserman Schultz, doesn’t care if she alienates Bernie followers"
From Reich’s facebook page:
Apparently Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, doesn’t care if she alienates Bernie followers. The Sanders campaign had been hoping for a significant role at the Democratic convention, but Wasserman Schultz has picked 75 members of the convention’s key committees -- rules, credentials and platform – and accepted only 3 of Bernie’s choices, [out of 45 submitted names] failing to acknowledge the proportion of the vote Bernie has won in the primaries and caucuses. Negotiations with the DNC have failed to add any additional Bernie picks to any of the standing committees. Worse yet, she’s named as chairs Hillary backers known for their harsh criticism of Bernie (among them Barney Frank, as co-chair of the influential Rules Committee).
This is insider politics run amok, at the very time and in the very election that insider politics is disdained – and at the very moment it’s vitally important to unite the Democratic Party. How Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC be so obtuse?
This sort of blatant and partisan deck stacking is getting completely lost among all the hoopla about the thoroughly disgraceful behavior by some of Sanders’ supporters. Yes, death threats even against a convention chair who abused her power and position in every sense of the word are disgraceful and completely uncalled for. I don’t think there is a person on this site who does not realize that. Even r/SandersForPresident, one of the most pro Bernie places on the internet, condemned the behavior of some Nevada Sanders supporters.
But… instead of talking about how the Sanders campaign has virtually no representation (three out
of SEVENTY FIVE members are Sanders people) on any of the three most powerful committees at the 2016 Philadelphia Democratic National Convention, Daily Kos is having a massive drama fest about how the Sanders campaign is now the ‘Revolution of Sour Grapes’. Instead of talking about how it happens that a Democratic convention descends into chaos, many on this site and elsewhere focus on the results.
Instead of even mentioning the incredible entitlement of the Clinton campaign and how virtually the entire Democratic Party, some 300 super-delegates, lined up behind her from the start (over 140 Democratic Representatives of the United States House and dozens of Democratic Senators have endorsed her) some on this site are focusing on throwing temper tantrums over the bad behavior of Sanders supporters all while ignoring their own glass house. It is not like a celebrity Clinton supporter assaulted someone when they found out they were a Sanders supporter or anything. It is not as if Jane Sanders has been referred to in disgraceful terms (“dumb b*tch” among others) by Clinton people in the comments section of BNR (Blue Nation Review) or anything. Who cares about all that when there’s a narrative to be pushed?
But what is truly astounding about these temper tantrums is that they act like the Sanders campaign does not fully reject these people and their actions. Anyone following the campaign for more than a New York minute knows that is completely absurd.
It is not as if the Sanders himself said “that is not what we do” in response to Trump’s incitement of violence at various rallies. It is not as if he has made a point to denounce racism, sexism, xenophobia, and cruelty at every campaign stop and rally he has held. It is not as if the Sanders campaign issued a statement specifically stating “I condemn any and all forms of violence” in response to what occurred at the Nevada Democratic State Convention or anything.
And no, the statement does not say “I condone any kind of violence by my supporters”.
The full statement says “I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal
harassment of individuals”.
I wonder, what part of “I do not condone violence” do some of you not understand?
In fact here’s another question for some of you: what part of the national convention is stacked with Clinton people do some of you not understand? What part of that does Daily Kos not understand?
Those are the even more important questions here.
When we talk about the sorts of things like what went down at and after the Nevada Democratic State Convention we all agree that the actions of some Sanders supporters were ugly and wrong. But what we often don’t talk about, and what gets missed too often, is why these people act that way in the first place.
So why do people act that way? Do they get that angry because they’re crazy Bernie bros (hence the various conspiracy theories)? Because they’re entitled? Because Sanders is leading a “revolution of Village idiots”?
It’s not necessarily because they’re all crazy. It is not because they’re all ‘entitled’. It is not because Sanders is leading a “revolution of Village Idiots” (the things you read when skimming the comments section) or any other stereotypical bull one may come up with. Some may be (and probably are) really, really terrible people so don’t get me wrong: personal responsibility certainly plays a large role here.
But, as I see it, the only thing that makes sense as a cause of such mass anger is because Sanders and his supporters have gotten screwed one and are continuing to get screwed in this election. It is because, the DNC and noted payday loan shark buddy Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) are more than a little bit biased towards the other candidate.
As I have seen time and time again, the Clinton people and many established politicians have no damn problem channeling Bernie’s message but lord forbid he should ever become the leader of the party let alone have any significant influence in the party platform (such as getting the party to commit to real reform instead more toothless “rah! rah!” legislation). Take Clinton’s and the DNC’s actions throughout this election as strong examples of this:
Clinton gets “pushed to the left” in the primary on a number of issues (trade like the TPP for one) and then insiders reveal she will be pushed back to the center in the general election. Why will she pivot back to the center? Because quid pro quo. That’s right, quid pro quo. Did you know that’s a thing? Did you also know that special interests affect Hillary Clinton, the same person who has received millions of dollars from say, the fossil fuel industry? Or the same person who has been the main beneficiary of millions of dollars in special interest money from federal lobbyists and PACS thanks to a February rollback of rules originally implemented by President Obama in 2008? These are some of the many forces that will drive the inevitable pivot.
Then, in the meantime, the DNC headed by the 2008 campaign manager of the Clinton campaign (gee, could that be a possible conflict of interest here?!?!?) is stacking the deck at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. The DNC might as well say “the hell with 45% of the Democratic party” (or whatever numbers Sanders has after June 7) at this point because they basically have.
The overarching point is this sort of insider politics is bound to piss a lot of people off. This is not to say civility is in order, because it certainly is. No one wants others to start pulling punches let alone yelling “we need a medic over here!”. No one wants that and it should not happen.
But what people do want is an election, or a process where they are not or at least do not feel like they are getting a shitty deal. When they feel like they are getting shut out. This isn’t about entitlement. This is not about selfishness. This is about getting or feeling shut out of what is supposed to be the Democratic process.
I’m not saying or even implying everyone to bow down and anoint Sanders or put all his policies in the party platform if he hasn’t won. That’s ridiculous. The person with the most votes and a clear majority of the pledged delegates, which at this time is Clinton by a sizable margin, should be declared the nominee and should have more influence over the platform. What I am asking for however, is to stop painting Sanders supporters with a black brush because of the thoroughly despicable actions of some for a minute, and look at the bigger picture.
Sanders has stated “I condemn all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals”. And judging by his press releases, he certainly does condemn the kind of insider politics pulled by the DNC and the Clinton campaign as well.
And at the end of the day, this matters. The horrible comments of many to Roberta Lang and the harassment of workers at her business matters. The DNC’s partisan deck stacking matters. The swift-boating of 9.5 million people as Trump supporters: ignorant, sexist, racist, and nasty, matters.
And we should not pretend otherwise for the sake of pushing an obtusely partisan narrative.
Enough is enough.
This diary has been edited several times for clarification, formatting, phrasing, and grammatical issues.