@ovals49

The problem is not that the system is rigged against the people, the problem is that the system is rigged against the people and the people do not know it. If they were aware just how badly their interests were being actively sabotaged by the loose alliance of government agency leaders and the plutocrats who own the political/media class, they would immediately use the power of their numbers to force real change. But they don’t. Because the political/media class who are paid to protect the status quo upon which their employers have built their respective kingdoms keep assuring that this is all normal and fine.

Embedded in Caitlin's words is that NOW is not the time to flip off the Democratic Party and run away. There's always time for that later. Now is the time to formulate the words that Sanders desperately needs to enlighten a few more people. Sanders and Corbyn are dogged and decent men dedicated to improving the lives of the 80% that have always been shortchanged, but both struggle to find the words that most of the 80% can hear.

What TPTB, Democratic Party and Biden absolutely want right now is for Sanders and his supporters to slink away with their tails between their legs. To keep the solid majority of Democratic voters ignorant about all things Biden except for his MyBoss an Democratic icon of whom most voters are equally ignorant about.

Now is an excellent opportunity to describe one difference between socialism and capitalism. For example, "all you people screaming for Covid 19 tests, need to direct your screams at your private health care providers and insurance companies. That is, after all, what you voted for. Government intervention is SOCIALISM. A well-functioning mixed economy, including a robust national health system, would have a plethora of tools to manage a pandemic. That would include factual information as to what individuals should do and what steps government will be doing to mitigate the suffering of individuals from illness and pandemic related loss of income."

For Democratic Socialists, the window for exposing all things Biden is short and narrow. But just long and wide enough to take the blinders off a few more. Trump will adequately expose Biden's addled brain (and likely his support for NAFTA because that's the Perot thing that Trump adopted) and by extension the stupidity of Democratic elites for nominating him, but he won't touch on the real problems and issues the people of the country face.

#1
The real goal here was never to "win" at electoral politics, it was to get more people to wake up to the fact that they've been handed an unplugged controller.

Please, click the link and read the whole piece. I do love this woman’s wit and humor!

@snoopydawg We are anything but free; the troops are not fighting for our freedoms. It's all lies. Being forced to participate in an abusive economic system or starve isn't a choice.

Capitalism is a bulldozer pushing all of us over a cliff. Humanity's chance of survival depends entirely on our ability to come together and put aside our differences and work together to stop it going over the edge. Will we do it? Are we brave enough? I like to think so, because I don't want to imagine the alternative.
Enough of this nonsense of a person's worth being based on what you do or don't do for a living. We've got to start thinking of people as people, and not a source of capital at best or a potential enemy at worst.

I'm doing the best I can. I had a good conversation the other day with a friend who votes Republican, but she admits that she doesn't really know anything about politics and gets overwhelmed easily thinking about it. (Which I think is the problem for a lot of people.) She is pro-choice and also childfree, and there are many things we agree on. I explained to her about the Overton Window and political compass (I've also explained them to my mom), and that I think she's further left than she thinks she is. I think many people are. We may not agree on HOW things should be done, but for the most part we agree on WHAT needs to be done. It's a good start. Civil conversation is key. You won't change some random asshole's opinion on FB; start with your friends, relatives, coworkers (if it is safe to do so).

#3

but it's a false life because there is no freedom, democracy, or liberty

I thought of this last night as I took my dejected self to bed. We are not a free people because we live in a police state. Period. Anyone who thinks they are free need just look at the police crackdown of the black lives movements. Occupy Wall Street. And the pipeline protesters. All of them were met with overwhelming police forces and police brutallity. Zero Hedge has an article on how the stars are aligned so that all the security policies that congress have been passing can go into effect at the drop of the hat. Many of our police forces look more like a standing army. Great visual effect. And when people were met with a trial run on martial law after the Boston bombings when police shut down a neighborhood with SWAT teams and then went into people's houses to look for one of the guys without a warrant people didn't know what to do. Which was another effect of the long removing of our liberties. We are not just rolling over because we are weak, but because we know we cannot fight against overwhelming force. I will find the article later and post an essay on it. Inside it link to an Intercept article when the pentagon has a video of our dystopian future in mega cities.

Or will we choose to do it the hard way? That's when change is forced on us: pandemics, climate change, economic depression, global nuclear war, the disruptive and catastrophic consequences of the road we've been on.

The article cover this too and first reminded me of it. Here is an article on how Biden got civil asset forfeiture passed and what they have done to further the police state.

Biden's roll in civil asset forfeiture

Don't forget how during MyBoss' tenure he helped arm the police with more lethal weapons. And that our troops are being trained by Israel's military. They do not see as fellow citizens, but as insurgents that need to be contained. Biden was instrumental in a lot of the bad police bills including the drug war and the crime bill that exploded the number of police and prisons. Let's not forget FEMA camps either. Do they exist for the purpose many people think they do? Guess we will find out.

Great essay!

@Centaurea

Remember, 2020 and beyond elections were supposed to come under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security - the ultimate in Establishment.

Is anyone surprised that it's turned into such a revolting mess?

#6 #6
is by stalling and/or withholding the final vote count and delegate tally in states where Bernie is winning, while having the corporate media report the incomplete tallies as though they were a fait accompli.

This is how they ended the 2016 primary, remember. They called Hillary the "presumptive nominee" the day before the California primary, then never finished counting the votes in CA.

Apparently, the DNC decided that was going to be their strategy in 2020 from the get-go, starting with Iowa. Stop counting the vote, then have their media enablers manipulate the public and manufacture consent for their desired outcome.

We still do not have final numbers on many of the Super Tuesday primaries. Over 100 delegates from those states, including CA, have not yet been assigned. Most of those should be expected go to Bernie. The Biden-Bernie margin is actually pretty narrow, but you won't know that from the corporate media.

@Steven D

They manufactured just enough consent for us to be debating this right now.

That's why Nevada freaked them out. I have no idea how that one slipped out of their hands, but it clearly did (and I'm saying that based on their reactions, not the numbers alone). Too many results like that and they could no longer plausibly sell their bullshit.

That's what the primary is fighting over. We might think it's our lives, but we'd be mistaken, because the Dems already told us that they don't have to pay attention to what voters think in a primary. It's now part of the legal record of our country that the DNC doesn't have to give a shit what we think. What this primary is fighting over is whether or not the DNC can maintain their illusion (and thus, their gravy train) for another four years. The answer seems to be "probably yes."

#6 by the six largest media companies w/ all their negative attacks on #Bernie and propping up Biden.

I'd like to see a study re: % of negative coverage by #MSNBC and #CNN, etc. of Sanders v the entire rest of the field.

@ggersh
That same solid majority may even know that Sanders has long advocated for Medicare for all. But unlike Hillary, Joe hasn't been lugging around "Medicare for all will NEVER, EVER happen." Joe is like a soft old shoe and Bernie is just old. The word socialism scares them even as the very much like all the socialism that has been embedded in their lives since birth. IOW -- all that expensive socialistic education was wasted on them.

#6 when you have results like this, the dots don't connect

In 20 States in a Row, Majority of Democratic Primary Voters Support Medicare for All Over Private Insurance

https://www.commondreams.org/