What happened to Bernie Sanders in Seattle was caused by political malpractice-- and not by the protesters.
At rallies like this, nobody should ever be allowed to bully their way into control of the microphone. Especially if it's two young ladies averaging about five foot three and armed with nothing but frown faces, pointy fingers, and loud mouths.
The capitulation I saw on that stage on Saturday night was nauseating, to put it mildly. Nobody took charge of the situation, and the whole event was just turned over to two complete unknowns to say whatever they wanted to say. The negotiation to get the microphone back was one of the most pathetic spectacles I have seen in quite awhile.
The people around Bernie Sanders in Seattle-- people who likely count themselves among his biggest supporters, people who should have his back-- let him down in a big way. Bernie Sanders is 73 years old. He should never be put in a position where he has to physically battle for a microphone in order to speak. These ladies should have never gotten near him.
I have no idea whether the brunt of the blame for this embarrassment should fall on Sanders' people or the group that organized the event. It does not matter to me that much who is to blame. What matters to me is how these events are run going forward.
Because this must not happen again. It really looks bad for Bernie Sanders and Democrats when we are so weak and passive that we let ourselves to be pushed off our own stages. I know we are peace-loving people who desire to avoid unnecessary confrontations, but this was surrender in the face of aggression, which is antithetical to peace.
But it's up to the campaigns and event organizers to make sure it doesn't happen again. Lecturing these protesters that they should change their tactics,telling them that Sanders is on their side and they should target others, is utterly useless. These ladies obviously have their own agenda that they want to advance. I seriously doubt they care one iota about our opinion of whose event they should protest instead of Bernie's.
And it's entirely unnecessary to try to reason with these protesters in the first place.
Why? Because it is very, very easy to keep a couple of unarmed, uninvited disruptors from taking over an event. Have some muscle on hand! Let people like these ladies scream and point at the security people as they are shunted away from the scene.
Finally: we have not seen the last of this tactic. From a tactical standpoint, the protesters were very effective. They saw weakness, and they exploited it to get out their message, such as it was. I'm sure others similarly inclined have taken note.
End of rant. I am pretty sure that there are folks on this site that help run events like this one. I plead with you: protect the mic, protect the speakers!
