Depending on who's articles and blogs you read, Bernie Sanders delegates are either mostly complacent and cooperative, or they are bent on disrupting the proceedings of the Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia. www.alternet.org/...
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Large protests are planned by organizations such as DemocracySpring.org, and OccupyDNC.com. The occupiers claim they have recruited 30,000 people who are committed to converging on Philadelphia. Some activists associated with the group say they want to shut down the convention. occupydncconvention.com/…
USA Today reports that the city of Philadelphia expects 35,000 — 50,000 protesters to gather for DNC 2016. www.usatoday.com/…
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The truth is, no one knows exactly what will happen because whatever plans may be hatched, there is no real information coming from the Bernie Sanders campaign or from his supporters and delegates. Rest assured there will probably be as much mayhem in the streets as we saw during the Republican party national fiasco in Cleveland. Despite a partial media boycott, the demonstrations at the RNC were large and angry. 5,500 police were brought in from as far away as Texas and Montana to confront immigrants rights activists and Black Lives Matter marchers.
Seattle's response to Donald Trump's nomination was a major protest march through the streets of our city. I was even handed the megaphone at one point to give a speech about loss of freedom of the press in the US. Thousands of people participated in the mass marches where participants were invited to tell their personal stories about the negative effects of racism and police brutality.
A very large contingent of police followed the protesters around Seattle.
One bystander asked, “Why are there so many police here?”
One of the marchers responded, “Because its a march against racism and police brutality.”
There was tension and anger in the air on that last night of the Republican National Convention but fortunately cooler heads prevailed on both sides. Previous protest marches have resulted in the use of flash grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray deployed by the Seattle Police Department. My journalistic colleagues and I have been subjected to these so-called "less-lethal" crowd control devices. Actually, these weapons can be lethal if used without proper training.
My “MTC Report” from the protests: www.youtube.com/…
Now that Wikileaks has released over 12,000 documents relating to nasty emails from the Democratic National Committee bashing Bernie Sanders, another level of tension has been reached leading up to the DNC. Folks in the Bernie camp were feeling less than energetic about the campaign following his endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Now they have a new ax to grind.
Bernie delegates were unsuccessful in their first attempt to abolish the super delegate system during the Rules Committee meeting. A video on Youtube shows Sanders supporters outside the building chanting "end super delegates!" The backlash against super delegates is especially serious in Washington State where Sanders received 72.7% of the caucus delegate votes. Despite the fact that Bernie won every county, all of the state's super delegates have endorsed Hillary Clinton. www.dailykos.com/...
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Sanders supporters are also skeptical about the Clinton Foundation. A Wall Street Journal article claims: "Employment rolls for the Clinton Foundation show scads of political operatives but this doesn’t seem to bother the IRS." www.wsj.com/…
Given this backdrop of controversy and tension, what can we expect in Philadelphia besides major protests in the streets? Will there be major protests inside?
A coalition of groups will be distributing their "People's Platform" on the floor of the convention. On July 23 they held a "People's Convention" in Philadelphia where folks voted on a platform which is far more progressive than the current DNC version. It designates universal healthcare as a human right, opposes the TPP and calls for a ban on fracking. These are the issues that the Bernie Sanders wing of the party holds so dear. https://thepeoplesrevolution.org
A major rally has been scheduled for Bernie Sanders on July 24 at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in Philadelphia. According to the permit application they are expecting somewhere between 15,000 & 40,000 people to attend. heavy.com/...
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A series of national marches and rallies are planned for July 24 in 64 US cities, including my hometown of Seattle. These demonstrations are being organized at the "MarchForBernieUSA " website. marchforbernieusa.com/...;
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So far, we know that Bernie Sanders has called for a meeting with all of his delegates on July 25, only hours before the convention begins. Speculation is brewing around the subject of his address to them. Will he ask his 1,900 delegates to get in line with the Democratic party leadership? Or will he tell them to keep fighting over the platform and the super delegates?
The real question here is:
Will Bernie Sanders delegates and supporters even listen to his advice?
A the time of this writing, I’m not aware of any communication or directions from the national campaign to the delegates on what they hope to accomplish at the convention. Even if they do have a well planned strategy, many of the delegates might not care what the Sanders campaign has to say to them at this point. There are many groups and networks that have formed independently from the national campaign. Each Bernie group may have it's own idea of how to further the aims of the political revolution.
The Sanders delegates I interviewed told me they are still confused about why their candidate endorsed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the official nominating process. They are assuming that there's some kind of rationale behind this move but they're not exactly sure what it is. Everyone seems to have their own opinions on the matter...
At first folks thought he might have made a deal to be the Vice Presidential running mate. When that theory went out the window Bernie fans said, "It's all about the battle over the platform.”
The endorsement of Clinton supposedly gave him more leverage to gain concessions from the corporate wing of the party. I also heard heated discussions about the super delegate fight and how that must have been the reason for his "strategic" move.
Lately the explanation I've been hearing is that Bernie simply wanted a chance for a prime time speech at the convention. Actually, no one is really sure what concessions, if any, he will actually get out of the deal. There have been a lot of promises but the platform has not been approved yet.
Until Bernie’s "secret plan" is finally revealed, all musings on the subject of his motivations will be pure speculation.
I did not expect Sanders to run for the office of the President. I didn't think he would join the Democratic Party, and I certainly did not expect him to win 23 states! I was shocked again when he turned around and endorsed Hillary.
The guy is always full of surprises so who knows what's next?
As they say, “Politics makes strange bed fellows...”
It’s quite obvious to me that the endorsement of Hillary Clinton was designed to project the appearance of unity within the Democratic party, in contrast to the divisiveness seen currently among Republicans.
My thought: There may not even be a secret agenda behind all of this political maneuvering. After all, it could be as simple as the fact that Bernie Sanders wants to make sure that Donald Trump will be defeated in November. For whatever reason, he may believe that his endorsement of Clinton will help in that battle, despite the polls which show that he would do better in a match up against Donald Trump.
(Ironically, the Washington State Republican party leaders are also vehemently opposed to Trump’s candidacy — obviously not a great example of party unity or loyalty inside the GOP.)
Bernie Sanders' political agenda may actually be quite different from that of his own followers. His volunteers and delegates feel that they’ve been betrayed by the DNC and by the electoral system. They are in a revolutionary mood!
Meanwhile, Bernie might simply be trying to get along with the powers that control the Democratic party establishment...
Whatever the case may be, people in Seattle are proudly wearing their Bernie t-shirts and buttons and they’re still adorning their cars with his famous bumper stickers. That kind of unabashed enthusiasm for a candidate is very rare.
John Kennedy and FDR used their celebrity status to propel them into the White House. Bernie Sanders may not be quite as epicurean or polished as those two upper class gentlemen, but he’s had his finger on the pulse of the nation long enough to see that social and political change is just around the corner.
We still don't know whether Senator Sanders and his delegates will be able to create that revolutionary change within the Democratic party. But whatever Bernie’s political agenda is at the DNC, it will most likely be a surprise to most of us.
As far as the protesters and Sanders delegates are concerned, I believe that the corporate controlled media and the Democratic National Committee have greatly underestimated the enthusiasm which still exists for Bernie Sanders. The convention could become very tense and raucous if the Bernie folks feel slighted once again.
At the Nevada state convention police lined up to protect the podium while Sanders delegates refused to leave the room. I hope that doesn't happen in Philadelphia. The image of police sternly facing off with Sanders delegates inside the convention hall would be disastrous for the party.
Don't be surprised, however, if some of the Bernie delegates stage protests or commit civil disobedience even on the convention floor. If the DNC succeeds in shutting out the Sanders contingent during the convention proceedings, many of the delegates will not be acquiescent.
Some folks may walk out of the convention if they feel betrayed by the party leadership. I’m sure you will hear Bernie supporters citing the leaked DNC emails as reason enough to protest the entire process.
To quote Dylan Thomas:
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
