An action-oriented strategy for progressives after the shock of the stolen NY primary
It took me some days to digest the NY primary but now I regrouped emotionally and would like to share some thoughts.
A view about what happened:
(1) The NY primary was stolen by voter suppression and, possibly, by fraud.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/4g3x5h/investigati...
(2) The 'business model' of the Democratic establishment is not much different from the one of the Republican establishment. It is a machiavellian model which relies on propaganda, voter suppression and fraud.
(3) The USA is not a democratic country anymore, but an oligarchy ruled by the 1%, the Dem/Rep establishment, and corporate media.
(4) The masks have fallen, (1), (2), (3) is apparent to millions of people.
(5) The people who are not prepared to accept (1), (2), (3) cannot be isolated and silenced anymore, they are interconnected via the internet and are capable of joint action.
What I suppose Bernie's view is:
(a) I suppose Bernie agrees to (1)- (5); he considered to run as an Independent but I suppose he thought it would be easier for the oligarchy to marginalize him by using propaganda, voter suppression and fraud, and that's why he ran as a Democrat.
(b) I suppose he is convinced that NY was stolen (have you noticed that he did not appear disappointed but angry in his recent speeches ?), but I suppose he might think that accusing the DNC and HRC of election fraud without clear evidence would lead to an escalation that might end up in mass protests and the use of police/national guard violence against Bernie supporters (remember Occupy). The corporate media would then blame Bernie for the violence. I suppose Bernie thinks that we should not choose this type of battle (at least not now, and not without clear evidence of election fraud).
(c) I suppose Bernie wants to re-democratize the USA, by creating an increasingly powerful progressive movement inside and outside the Democratic party that would elect as much real progressives as possible and demand that progressive positions are endorsed and implemented by Dem elected officials (or threaten them with challenges in primaries). For me this medium-term strategy makes sense because the Dem establishment's masks have fallen and the establishment will become increasingly unpopular. Furthermore, in the future more and more critical young voters will replace corporate-media-informed voters.
What I think we should do:
(i) Most important: We help Bernie to win as much primaries/delegates as possible - starting NOW by phonebanking & canvassing for the next primaries - in order to strengthen his position as a movement leader (crucial when negotiating with the Dem establishment at the convention) and retain his chances to become the Dem nominee, either by winning yuge in California/Oregon, or by other unexpected developments (e.g. E-mail server, evidence for election fraud + a connection to HRC)
(ii) We increase our movement by building/expanding an progressive infrastructure of interconnected websites, platforms, social media forums etc. which can compete with the corporate media; we need to be be resilient against paid Brock-trolls while developing a participative type of community that will motivate people to join our movement.
(iii) We develop ways of monitoring elections and ways of exposing all kinds of voter suppression/ fraud attempts.
(iv) We help to elect as much real progressives as possible; some of us might want to consider to become actively involved in politics.
Update:
Added interesting reddit-link on possible election fraud
Comments
Redacted Tonight - Makes the NY case pretty well
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Great stuff!
The establishment is powerful. If we want to change this world, we have to unite first. El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido.
Stein as VP to Bernie on the Green Party ticket..
[video:
width:300 height:275]
In case the video doesn't embed. https://acronymtv.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/sanders_stein/
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Really great idea...
This will promote Bernie, Jill Stein, the Green party, and OUR progressive ideas. This builds the movement. Let's contact all of them with this idea.
Keep OUR progressive movement alive and growing.
Exactly!
I don't know if we can get the magic number 50+ percent to keep it out of the HOUSE, but we CAN scare the pants off them.
ALSO
We KNOW how elections are stolen. We need to look at all the problems, and figure what can be done to fix them between now and election day, like lobbying for an adequate number of machines and making sure that we have our poll watchers, and someone outside to take reports of irregularities and an exit poll.
The guys that know the system well always have the home-field advantage, but that is not to say that we can not learn the system, local election laws and various procedures and go to the various bodies that govern the Boards of Elections and demand an open and understandable audit process everywhere.
We need to volunteer on election day so that there are ENOUGH poll workers to open on time. We need to work in pairs or groups so one is always a witness for the others.
We need to be there when the machines are tested before they are deployed.
We need to demand a transparent ballot audit process.
[video:https://youtu.be/OSNTauWPkTc]
That's pretty good! I hadn't watched him before. He's amusing
Thanks for the information!
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that vid was awesome; exactly right re NY
THE EFFERS! The theft of NY primary couldn't have been more clear. And they think people are not noticing.... and they think that people are not saying that they would burn in hell before voting for the Criminal Clinton Machine.
The more I think about it, the more I fear her taking us right away into war... and installing Nettyahoo in the West Wing so that we can oversee us 'Bomb, Bomb, Bombing Iran.'
Frankly, and I mean this, I really worry about her mental stability. She seems to burn with goals and does not give anythought to the impact of gaining them. Great, give her access to the Red Button.
thanks for the video, it says it all
Sea Turtle
I think action number ii is very important
All the different pro-democracy web sites and forums etc need to be aggregated into a useful, self-reinforcing whole, where all real information can be got to easily.
Beware the bullshit factories.
Absolutely right!
I tried to do a little by crossposting between here and reddit, but, your approach is the right one.
We should try to organize a conference between people/management of different progressive/ pro-democracy web sites and forums etc where we discuss how to aggregate them into a useful, self-reinforcing whole.
The establishment is powerful. If we want to change this world, we have to unite first. El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido.
theres one coming up
Ill have to go find the info for you. Chicago, mid June, via People For Bernie2016.
(also new! twitter account https://twitter.com/pplsummit)
Here it is (on FB)
CALL FOR THE PEOPLE’S SUMMIT: BUILDING THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
[details on registration will be available on soon]
At a time of tremendous turmoil and progressive opportunity, we invite you to participate in a historic convening of organizations and individuals committed to social, racial and economic justice. On June 17-19, in Chicago, after the party primary season and before the party conventions, we seek to bring together activists committed to a different kind of platform: a People’s Platform that can enhance and expand issue campaigns and hold elected officials accountable to popular demands for justice, equality and freedom.
At the local, state and national level, regardless of which candidate emerges as the likely Democratic nominee, and in fact regardless of which party occupies the White House and controls Congress in 2016, we need a vehicle to wage issue campaigns, make bold demands for fundamental change, and hold the victors accountable through a participatory democratic movement.
We start from the idea that no single issue campaign, no perfect candidate, no grand coalition and no one organization is enough to transform our country toward justice. We know that the future of the planet is at stake; we must all come together to take climate action.
We envision this Summit as further deepening the relationship between participating organizations rooted in principled anti-corporate politics, development of community leaders, direct action not based on partisan identification, and strategic organizing to build power.
The Summit itself will include plenary and workshop sessions devoted to key issues such as the Fight for 15, mass incarceration and criminal justice reform, voting rights and expanding democratic participation, a tax on Wall Street speculation to fund human needs and jobs, climate justice toward a sustainable economy, improved Medicare for All, the fight for free and debt-free higher education, secure retirement through expanding social security, ending HIV/AIDS, achieving Constitutional pay equity for women, and ending deportations and support for DREAMers, among others.
Partner organizations include:
National Nurses United Reclaim Chicago National People's Action The People For Bernie Sanders 2016 Progressive Democrats of America People Demanding Action United Students Against Sweatshops Food & Water Watch Democratic Socialists of America
hmmmm
we - caucus99percent - should represent. Is there anyone in our community here who lives in or near Chicago and w/could go? Ill try to post this as a new "essay" later.
also a new website, still a little thin but good stuff http://www.thepeoplessummit.org/
Great! :-)
The establishment is powerful. If we want to change this world, we have to unite first. El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido.
If you're going to Phil-a-delphia
Be sure to wear, a helmet on your head.
With their hearts they turned to each others heart for refuge
In troubled years that came before the deluge
*Jackson Browne, 1974, Before the Deluge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SX-HFcSIoU
♫ All across the nation, there’s triangulation ♫ n/t
I think you missed
And we'll donate to Berniecrats where money allows. Canova comes to mind strongly and Fetterman is a personal favorite but there are 43 of them listed in the actblue link in my signature. Every warrior we can put on the front line increases our strength dramatically.
Along with that, I'm heartened to see the ongoing discussions of who to vote for if Bernie loses the nomination. I remain committed to the Green Party and Jill Stein because I think aggreggating our strength in a visible area makes the boldest statement nor does it hurt us to bolster the Green Party which already has a Bernie compatible platform despite the connotations of an environment only focus.
In a more distant sense, the question becomes who to run in 2020.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Need some help here
For those on Twitter, could you please help pass this around...
Thanks!
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass