There’s no fucking way I’m the only one who saw this, or is thinking along these lines. Last night, days before the now-hotly contested Iowa primary, the hammer dropped on what resembled free and fair elections. And it was brought to you by CNN and the Democratic Party. This primary started with months and months of doing everything possible to keep the Sanders campaign as quiet as Marcel Marceau in a vacuum- from a virtual media blackout, to plotting a debate schedule that all but guaranteed new voters would miss them, as well as the media’s outright dismissal of Sanders from the word jump. Something happened along the way, and it made establishment Dems nervous, angry, afraid, and finally, cruel. Bernie didn’t just gain momentum, the momentum became its own entity.
A series of mystifying events occurred. Not only was Team Sanders gaining on the Inevitable One, he was winning in Iowa. Then came the response from the Hill People. “Well, Iowa is Bernie’s demo”. Yeah, Iowa. Where he had what? A 17% approval rating in October? How fast we forget. But politics is like childhood- you’re only supposed to remember the good things while blocking out the bad. Clinton supporters know this- they blatantly refuse to remember over half of Hillary’s career. And when you mention it, all Hill breaks loose. I’ve been around enough rigged games in my life to recognize one when I see it, and last night’s Town Hall was crooked as a dog’s hind leg.
What I saw was the penultimate last-ditch effort of a team of con artists who know they could get busted at any moment. Like any well-seasoned grifters, they put on one helluva show to distract and mollify their marks into forgetting. Forgetting everything that an otherwise sensible person needs to remember in order to be conned. Whitewash history, slap on your most sincere face, and deliver those focus-group tested, guaranteed applause lines. The Harlem Globetrotters have a tougher gig.
The DNC knows, and any rational person with enough fucking brain cells left to recognize a scam knows, that by allowing Hillary to speak last, unchecked, no rebuttal and no follow ups, and this this gem:
Brett Rosenberg was so nervous when CNN’s Chris Cuomo called on him to ask Clinton his question, that he accidentally called the former first lady “Secretary Sanders,” and then implied his question — he had yet to ask — was planted. “I can see why they gave you this question,” he laughed before asking Clinton which president had inspired her the most. Spoiler alert: Abraham Lincoln.
Now, Rosenberg did say in a later interview that the question was his, he submitted it on Saturday prior to the Town Hall, but CNN chose which candidate to deliver the question to- not the man who submitted the question himself. Sometimes I wonder, other times I’m sure.
Decades of cynicism may be driving my seeing this as a well-crafted grift. That last night’s event itself was a cynical, disingenuous mockery of both the political process and Reality Television. Of fucking course Clinton looked poised and polished- she’s been working on that for 30 years. Sure, she sounded about as genuine as an email from a Nigerian prince, but that wasn’t the point- the point was to give her the last word in what will immediately become a barrage of commercials from her many, many Super PACs playing on a loop in Iowa homes for the next five days. I was literally waiting for her to end a response with, “I’m Hillary Clinton, and I approve this message”.”
Where does this leave people who are sick and fucking tired of being treated like gullible children? It leaves us with work to do. Five days. Five days of phone calls, knocking on doors, getting people registered, and spreading the word. I’ve had plenty of reasons to be embarrassed for the Democratic Party over the years. Those moments have been offset by victories small and large. Last night was a slice of shit cake served by puffed up swine. And to what end? To make sure that the boat doesn’t get rocked? That the status quo rules? That an infinite stream of war and oligarchy continue to lead us boldly down the path of “meh”? This isn’t an “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it” moment. This was pure, unmitigated bullshit.