Watching Bernie Sanders’ livestream address to the nation on August 24th was inspiring. It was the much anticipated launching of his new campaign “Our Revolution”.
https://ourrevolution.org
He seemed to hit on most of the issues progressives care about as he delivered some great quotes about oligarchy, revolution, healthcare, the environment, education and human rights.
“Elections come and go but the struggle for justice continues.”
The Trans Pacific Partnership means, “To hell with the environment, healthcare, & human rights."
”We made the establishment very nervous and that is good!"
”Corporations shouldn't be making a profit by imprisoning their fellow citizens."
"Fossil fuel industry is destroying this planet."
"Our movement is the future of America!”
Senator Sanders applauded civil rights activists who have been jailed while protesting, and he mentioned several candidates for office who he thinks will keep his “revolution” going, including Russ Feingold. The focus of the Our Revolution organization is the election of local “Berniecrats” around the country, an attempt to reform US politics “from the bottom up.”
Bernie’s campaign may have “lit a fire in this country,” but folks are now questioning the appointment of Jeff Weaver as director of the Our Revolution campaign. In fact, eight of the top staff members of Our Revolution have resigned in protest.
https://t.co/Bb6MqzPABn
Bernie Sanders may say the right things, but what about his actions?
Weaver is seen by many Berniecrats as merely a political hack who will spend most of his time on advertising and cozying up to large donors, a strategy which many Bernie fans believe is counter to the entire spirit of a “grassroots” pro-democracy movement.
From The New York Times article by Alan Rappeport and Yamiche Alcindor Aug. 24, 2016:
Claire Sandberg, who was the organizing director at Our Revolution and had worked on Mr. Sanders’s campaign, said she and others were also concerned about the group’s tax status — as a 501(c)(4) organization it can collect large donations from anonymous sources — and that a focus by Mr. Weaver on television advertising meant that it would fail to reach many of the young voters who powered Mr. Sanders’s campaign and are best reached online.
“I left and others left because we were alarmed that Jeff would mismanage this organization as he mismanaged the campaign,” she said, expressing concern that Mr. Weaver would “betray its core purpose by accepting money from billionaires and not remaining grass-roots-funded and plowing that billionaire cash into TV instead of investing it in building a genuine movement.”
I’m sure that some US media will have a field day highlighting this dissension within the ranks. I hate to think of what Fox News will do with it...
This is not the first time that Bernie Sanders supporters have expressed criticism towards their hero. The “knight in shining armor” has disappointed them several times before on issues they think are important.
They have complained about his lack of resolve in challenging what many Berniecrats saw as an unfair Democratic Party nomination process. They lambasted him when the senator chose not to challenge questionable voting practices in New York, California and other states.
The final straw for many was his uncritical support for the establishment candidate Hillary Clinton before the convention in Philadelphia. Even at the convention he was booed by his own supporters.
I have been complimentary of his campaign ethics and authenticity throughout the election, but I must admit that my faith in his so-called “revolution” has been shaken by many of his personal decisions.
It seems that he really doesn’t care too much about what his followers think of his actions, and that is very sad. So many volunteers and contributors have pushed the political envelope to get him where he is today as perhaps the most popular politician in the United States, at least according to past polls.
Major defections within his own movement have proven that there is widespread dissension and mistrust of his motives among a significant portion of his followers.
Whether Sanders’ popularity will continue under the current controversy over Jeff Weaver’s appointment is not clear, but there is a petition being circulated to replace Weaver as director of Our Revolution.
https://t.co/m74GBmsB8Y
It was obvious during Weaver’s speech during the livestream address that he is a seriously embattled figure. He came across as sullen and deadpan. I saw no emotion whatsoever showing on his face as he talked about the future of the movement. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must have been for members of the audience in the room, knowing that a major rebellion had already taken place within the organization over the controversial appointment.
https://t.co/hfoA060bmu
Over and over again progressives have felt cheated, ignored and played for fools by politicians in the USA. To many political activists, the Bernie Sanders phenomenon is no exception. People are yearning for authenticity in their candidates but they keep singing the lines of that famous song by the British rock band The Who — “Won’t Get Fooled Again!”.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...”
Faith in our elected representatives and candidates for office will continue to plummet until politicians finally realize that most voters are not “sheeple”, that the public will in fact stand against hypocrisy and immoral compromises.
I do have one theory, however, that may explain some of Bernie’s willingness to “go along to get along”.
This lack of empathy for his supporters may actually be a direct result of his popularity. He is now a powerful national figure surrounded by sycophants and political operatives who may not have the best interests of his “revolution” in mind. Once you reach that high level of public exposure and media coverage, your sympathies often change. Public figures often become so sheltered from the average voter that they fail to see the writing on the wall, an accusation which has also been directed at Hillary Clinton by her critics.
What is saddening to me is observing candidates for office who forget their true mission and begin to pay attention only to poll numbers and the amount of contributions they can collect. I hope that this is not the case with Senator Sanders because he has been a real breath of fresh air in the middle of a stifling atmosphere of media obfuscation and crass party pressure tactics on both sides of the aisle. Vapid gestures and political pandering will not help ease the sense of mistrust that has been engendered in the people by numerous allegations regarding potential political scandals and shocking revelations about our leaders.
At some point people will just stop going to the polls, leaving us with only demagogues and dictators to represent us. If that happens during this election season we will all suffer.
Please, somebody give us “A Future We Can Believe In”!
