Plan B? The Ace Card up our sleeve
“Taken” ... great film, love Liam Neeson etc, there's a scene in that movie that has stayed with me, it echoes in a back room of my brain all. the. time. and tends to get a little louder whenever the mechanisms of The Machine appear to be more overwhelming than usual. (so, ya know, every other day!)
.
.
It's near the beginning of the movie where the Dad is on the phone with the Daughter (Kim) during the process of the kidnappers as they are about to nab her. It's very tense and omg who doesn't want Liam frikkin' Neeson to rescue you in a moment like that!? And you just know he will, he will tell her something brilliant and clever and genius and he'll save the day. Well, no, ha! not yet. What he does tell her is:
“They are going to take you.”
.
.
Ah here below is the clip:
[video:https://youtu.be/dGKRzgf6YVM]
That's us. We're taken. Now "us" can be the D Party if you want, or just The People or whatever fits into your mind's point of view, but it is as inevitable as that poor girl in that scene except this is not a movie and there is no Liam Neeson swooping in to fend off The Bad Guys and take us home safe and sound.
It's mostly already happened, as I think most of us know.
We have our little slivers of hope, we have moments (OWS, BLM) and waves and pockets. And for all my doom and gloom here I still believe we can ultimately prevail. Really I do. But it won't be easy.
Back to the movie, the Neeson character, the Dad, a former spy or something, does give her some pointers of what to do to leave him clues so that after they take her, he'll be better able to find her and rescue her. And lalala happy ending.
And so yes, I'm linking all this, metaphorically and in my roundabout way, in this moment, the current wave: Bernie Sanders 2016! Because ... Fuck This Shit!
And yet, this troubles me... I sense a continuing of that whole Fractured Left thing. And I get it. There is a LOT of validity in what I see many people, friends, skeptics, saying. The whole election horse race process, the two party system, capitalismperiod, and so on. I know. I know!
But ... all is not lost!
Cat herding 5.0? {sigh} I confess I alternate (often!) between wanting to slurp-hug you and thwack you upside the head. Some of you. You = The Left, heh.
Things that keep me up at night: What are we doing? Where are we going? HOW DO WE GET THERE (from here)?
I confess also I am not the most patient person on the planet.
So, to all you GOS refugee Left, Wild wild Lefties, rads, citizens ... can we talk?
Meh. I'm not into scolding people and I seriously suck at the 'herding' thing, lol. I've been bouncing around the net and reading gobs of articles with insights and histories and causes and wisdoms. I've learned a lot in recent weeks. The article I'm focused on at the moment is this one that I've mentioned before but I didn't have time or focus to really highlight it or unpack it. But today I do (sorta). (Sorry if I ADD bounce around too much!)
This is some high quality shit right here:
Really, y'all need to go read the whole thing. I'll wait.
Sanders has more leverage than he's ever had in his life. He has the right vision and the right goal. He's also holding the right cards — all he has to do is play them. In particular, he has an ace. Will he play it if he loses to Clinton?
His question is 'Will Bernie play that card?' But more importantly, I wonder, will we? (Are we prepared to... IF...)
Thing is, Bernie is the first one to say it: “This is not about me (Bernie) it's about us.”
Some more snippets from the piece:
Sanders Has an Ace. Will He Play It?
I mentioned that Sanders has an ace he can play if he loses the nomination. I also suspect he knows it, based on his answer to the next question. Would he play it?Here's the question:
Q: [If you come in second, let's assume you're not going to ask for an appointment, something for yourself.] If you're going to ask for policy positions, what are the policy positions that you would want?{GP: Before you read the answer, think about what the question really asks. This is tantamount to the following:
If you come in second, what policy changes do you want in exchange for your support?
And that's his ace. The Establishment wants his supporters, badly. Sanders can withhold his support, or trade it for something. What's that something? Here's his answer (at 2:36 [in the clip in the article, the Young Turks interview with Bernie]}:BS: Ok.
I want Secretary Clinton if she is the nominee, to come out for [basically:]...
the policies he wants Clinton to "come out for" are these:
-a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system
-$15 an hour as a minimum wage
-rebuild our crumbling infrastructure
-a vigorous effort to address climate change
-no "cuddling up to the fossil fuel industry"
-making public colleges and universities tuition-free
-Wall Street tax on speculation
-ending all these corporate loopholes[snip]
If he really "demands" that Clinton herself campaign in September and October on these policies as a condition for his continued support, he's basically saying, "I want to handcuff you to my policies every time you speak." Which makes it a whole lot harder for her to reverse herself in office and not be toxic in 2020. That's why this is his ace. Because if he really suggests he would withhold his support from her if she doesn't meet these conditions, she's helpless.
And the more votes, delegates, momentum Bernie has between now and the Convention, the more "helpless" (dependent) she will be, come June.
This matters.
It's leverage. At this point, it's the most vital vibrant available (only?) leverage we've got.
And I hope to god there's a YUGE buncha people there at the Convention backing him(us) up!
As I've said many many times over the past few months:
Define "winning".
It's not a one and done deal. It's ongoing. We are in a good place with this right now, let's not miss this moment.
Comments
phew
sorry this got a little long and I still left out a lot!!
Only problem is that Hillary doesn't make deals with peasants.
At best, she will suggest she MIGHT at some point, of course, agree to the terms, which explicitly do not state, if in the contrary, all best efforts being made, and any unforeseen complications arising, that the idea may have some merit, but she will have to look into the feasibility of actually committing to such a course of action.
Does that answer your question?
/snark
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
he addresses that, somewhat,
he addresses that, somewhat, in the piece.
iow
in other words, the "Bernie or Bust" concept... and we have to mean it! heh. Why the hell else is that practically ban-worthy at TOP? They want us to buy in to the idea that we are powerless. We're not.
As far as Im concerned, I don't need Bernie to 'advise' me on this. Even on the remote chance she agrees to any "terms" I wouldn't believe her anyway and she will never ever get my vote. (But I do have that "luxury" since I live in Texas.) But it's about the optics as much as anything.
Michelle Alexander interview with Chris Hayes
This clip is from LD's BNR today
I've read her writing, but never before heard her speak. WOW. Powerful. Love the questions she addresses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFHNzlx24QM
the only real ace Sanders has is NOT supporting Clinton
she can say whatever she wants to say (and she has) and then do exactly the opposite. her word isn't worth much.
sanders, if he loses the nom, must either run on an indie ticket or throw his full support behind Jill Stein. that is the ONLY play if we want to upend the system. if Sanders loses the nom and supports Clinton, who will then go on to betray us ... the loser will be Sanders, his credibility, and the movement.
Clinton may become president, but she must do it without Sanders' support. That keeps the movement going and the message is clear: no more participating with corruption. no more deals with the devil. done. done. done.
the whole point of us not voting for Hillary is exactly that.
change the game, the board upon which it is played, and the rules. . . we gotta stop playing on their board by their rules. we can NOT win playing their game.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
Why Jill Stein
I keep hearing Jill Stein as the fall back position if Bernie Sanders isn't the nominee. Not sure that is the most powerful way to continue the movement Bernie has been catalytic in bringing together. Think this movement is more powerful than an existing "third party" and needs to be treated as such.
Jill Stein is strong and smart
she's helped to coalesce the green party movement and, in 2012, she received about 450,000 votes for president. so I'd say she has a constituency.
i do agree that the "movement" is something separate from a political party... and it should remain so. i like the idea of various groups, from #BLM to LGBT, First Nations to workers rights groups, all of those progressive groups. if we can work together (again the idea of an orchestra) to successfully retain liberty and sanity and to force some justice into the system it would be great.
we don't need to belong to parties per se, but we need some organization and it would be nice in the form of many smaller groups. all with their own visions and perspectives that make for more durable, more thought-out strategies for the whole. if that makes any sense.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
I'd say Stein needs
to be a part of a call for all the anti-status quo parties to coalesce. I don't think it needs to be a political party per se.
I'd love to see something like a movement which uses spaces on the internet to build interest around agendas and to start setting up a spokescouncil system that becomes a sort of shadow government.
Basically, we all continue the movement but have a mechanism through which we establish new social operating systems when we finally break the stranglehold that the authoritarian oligarchy has on our faux-democracy. That is, we start governing ourselves. Much of this will be just about determining governance values and policy ideas, but we could actually create local ordinances and get communities to operate at a social level under these principles. We start being the change we're looking for.
strongly agree
i would expect to see her in a Sanders administration, quite frankly
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
I think Bernie should NOT campaign for Hillary...
... IF he loses the nomination. At this moment in time, I feel like Bernie will WIN the nomination IF the fucking superdelegates who have already endorsed Hillary butt out of the process. After all, superdelegates were not invented until 1968 to keep the hoi polloi from picking "the wrong candidates" (as far as the elitist Dems were concerned). We did without superdelegates before and after that, and we can continue to do without them. In fact, the whole role of superdelegates should be null and void by now.
If Bernie campaigns for her and things she advocates (which is totally incompatible with Bernie's platform) it would be seen as him capitulating to the Corporatist Democrats and joining them. Bernie would lose all kinds of good will from We the People if he capitulates his strong principles and ethics to the Corporatist Dems, and you know that means we would be losing all hope for a cleaner world and a more equitable American culture.
By the same token, WHEN Bernie wins, I do not think he should send Hillary around the country to campaign for him as a surrogate, and Hillary should retire from politics to spend time with her grandkids. You know it would only turn into a media circus of reporters getting quotes of Hillary criticizing Bernie's positions (which have also been our wish lists for many years), and reporters asking Bernie what he thought of her opinion which changed to plagiarizing Bernie's positions and then will quickly morph back to her own positions. Suddenly, instead of her going "ooh, ooh, ooh, me too, me too!" and plagiarizing Bernie's positions to steal votes from him, she'll revert back to her true colors promoting TPP, corporations, banks, et cetera and so on and so forth; the differences she started out with will become apparent once more, and we don't need her advancing her own agenda while allegedly promoting Bernie's agenda (which is also our agenda and on our political bucket list).
Once Bernie wins the nomination, he should drop Hillary and her surrogates like a hot potato and continue talking about all the things for which we support him now.
And superdelegates need to STFU about Hillary.
OTOH, if superdelegates want to switch their endorsement to Bernie, then, okay, they can speak up. There's a time and a place for everything, and now is the time for giving Bernie our support because virtually everything he talks about we almost all agree with (climate change, decreasing pollution, single-payer Medicare for ALL, paid education through college, etc., etc., etc.).
Go, Bernie!!!
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute ..., where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. — President John F. Kennedy, Houston, TX, 12 September 1960
one of my fav ever movie quotes (and my hubby's too)
from Taken:
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
right...
see, here's where I get depressed, lol. I agree with you on this, for the most part, but I don't think we're there yet. We haven't reached Critical Mass.
It's gonna be on the kids. Probably not this cycle. Next cycle there will be more of them and fewer of the gatekeeper class, and maybe even some of them will wake up (or lose ground when the next recession hits etc). I'm just hoping to see a peaceful revolution rather than an ugly one. Take your pick.
to both Lady Lib and Chem Bob re: revolution
I think we have to be smart. Today, Gulfgal posted an open thread about the transition movement and this type of thing is exactly what we could work on here, network, and help it to grow.
Bernie is a conductor, if you will. Should he become president, he gives us some breathing room to reclaim liberty at local levels, revitalize and localize economies, learn to use the resources we have to (as i used to say so often at Docudharma) change the game, the board upon which it is played, and the rules.
seriously, the revolution has already begun and much of it is a conscious evolution away from the warrior and ruler sub species of humans. yeah. and they exist in all cultures.
we have to help each other : do you live in a small town? have a yard? live in a bigger city? what are the kinds of programs and strategies being used in other places that can stop fracking, for example? how is it states can raise the minimum wage or vote on single payer?
cops... urgent issue... can be effectively dealt with at local, regional, and state levels. while the fed gov't and DOJ should be investigating civil rights violations by cops (like taking a civilians life), the control of these departments rests within states at all levels. how do we do this?
so Bernie is important yes. but he's only one piece of this puzzle. what adds to his awesomeness is he knows this: he has to deploy us back into our communities to get shit done! even if he doesn't get elected, this is still the work ahead of us.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
peef
its not that you(plural) are wrong on this angle. But it elicits more or less the same reaction from me as I have with MB's (and others') prescription for 'winning", you know the schpiel... work local, run for office, blabalbla. (not comparing your ideas with that, just my reaction to it)
That reaction being:
We simply don't have that kind of time! (wrt climate change) We just don't.
ultimately, it doesn't matter who wins the presidency
the time is what the time is. and there are no guarantees because the tipping point could break us tomorrow. We just don't know.
Bernie isn't going to wave a magic wand. What he can and will do to greater effect is get us all involved in this "world war II-like effort" to save the planet.
and that's it. we have to change the energy. the vibe. our values. it's up to us. we will NOT stop Exxon unless we start biking and walking and carpooling. we have to start locally and ramp it upto state legislatures to subsidize solar panels, for example. we have to take control of zoning boards and school boards.
Bernie is no where near enough. But millions changing their lifestyles (and promoting it heavily on Facebook et al) well, that's something.
All I know is the power of one. that's all i got and i'm using it every day.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
Indeed, pfiore8.
She lies constantly now and she might hesitate at these "conditions," then agree to them, but once in office will absolutely ignore them with no shame on her part and no penalty from the media and the peasantry. It is just what she is, what the Clintons are.
I'm all for optimism, but the reality is we have to get Bernie into the Oval Office or we are once again dead in the water unless we actually do a real revolution in the streets.
I agree.
It has to be Bernie in the OO.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
A real revolution in the streets
When Occupy ended with arrests, permit revocations, and pepper-spraying cops brutalizing passive protesters, my hope was crushed. I WILL NOT go through another failed attempt to get some justice by seeing Bernie and his supporters capitulating to Hillary Clinton and the DNC. It is a "one-way ticket to Palookaville", to quote Marlon Brando.
This is not about making Hillary talk like a progressive
Bernie Sanders is not going to the enormous effort and expense ($140 million so far) of campaigning for President in order to make Hillary Clinton talk like a progressive for a couple of months. That wouldn't make sense.
Remember Hillary is widely regarded as the least honest and trustworthy candidate of 2016.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
Talking like a progressive and BEING a Progressive...
... are two different things.
I would not, for one nanosecond, believe anything coming out of Hillary's mouth if she is sent out to campaign "for" Bernie. Besides which, I think she and/or her superdelegate cronies will try to undermine Bernie, and positions that are currently garnering him votes since we agree with him.
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute ..., where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. — President John F. Kennedy, Houston, TX, 12 September 1960
LOL that graphic!
and like I said above, I wouldn't believe her for a nano-second if she did agree to his 'terms'. (which is unlikely anyway).
I think the author of this piece is arguing more that Bernie (and by implication his supporters) need to stand our ground, maintain our spine.
Plus it's all a hypothetical based on the IF he doesn't win the nom... an event I think we should be thinking about in terms of our game plan. A lot of us say this movement isn't gonna go away IF she wins, so... the only where I see this hypothetical going is... Bust. #A: She says Oh hell no, fuck your stupid hippie and kids supporters I dont need you" = us saying "okay buh bye" GUILT FREE. If Dems lose in Nov with HRC as the nom, that is not our fault and they need to STFU and clean house.
a new piece
so it occurred to me to go see if this same writer has a new piece up and yes he does!
And once again I seem to agree with and like the way he thinks! Today's post, about climate change urgency, he closes with:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2016/04/will-climate-come-apart-too-fast-for.html
wow . . . great minds think alike?
from my comment upthread:
"Bernie isn't going to wave a magic wand. What he can and will do to greater effect is get us all involved in this "world war II-like effort" to save the planet. - See more at: http://caucus99percent.com/comment/56536#comment-56536"
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
also yves at NC
repub'd to Naked Capitalism, yves smith intro says:
he'd be a fool to endorse her
his power is derived from outside the system and to partner with it will only weaken him. and make lots of people lose heart.
that is the real threat: for people to give up. i think he knows that now. i don't think he did when he started. i don't think any of this was really what he thought when he started. even who he is becoming ... it's not a nice comfortable platform from which to speak about ills and evils. suddenly, he's got a finger on the red button.
now. is he doing to use it? or give in.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
His "revolution" would lose all credibility.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho
I watched Sanders say this, live. I found his answer good, but I
know the establishment standard bearer would have no trouble dodging the sniper fire of her own during-the-campaign 'promises' after she is elected. She would have and would be given even more media cover in 2020 than Obama received in 2012. She would know (or assume) this, and would be planning on giving us Arpege for the next four years. In any event, incremental kabuki will have the people in the streets with 'pitchforks and torches' before the end of this decade.
Please consider subscribing monthly, to help keep c99 going.
Lady Lib, thanks for the post; & to all writers here: thanks.
this is what I've missed and, without it, why my brain shut down and i simply could not write any more:
encouragement of the authentic voice... and making our own political reality. because man. do i like pie. (blueberry if anybody's interested).
thank you ALL for looking until you all found a place. this place.
finally, to the C99P crew. thanks for sticking with it, keeping the lights on for us and those still continuing to wander in ... just looking for this lovely place. well done. really well done.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"