Movement4Bernie - Beyond Bernie meeting

Saturday I drove up to Philadelphia to check out the Socialist Alternative/Movement4Bernie presentation which featured video messages from Jill Stein and Kshama Sawant. Cheri Honakala, Jill Stein's vice presidential partner on the 2012 Green Party ticket was present and spoke at the meeting.

Jill Stein called for the creation of a united party of the 99%, without corporate money or influence, joining the people energized by the Sanders campaign and the various fragmented groups of the left end of the political spectrum. Stein gave a brief run through of the highlights of her platform that mostly coincide with Sanders' platform demands.

Stein finished with a passionate appeal against "lesser evilism," stating that voting for lesser evil candidate paves the way for greater evil to be elected by discouraging voters who feel that they have no viable choice, thus suppressing the vote.

She finished with an announcement that the Greens would be sponsoring a march to the DNC convention at 3pm on Monday the 25th.

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Kshama Sawant made the announcement in her presentation that Socialist Alternative is endorsing Jill Stein for President.

Sawant said that the government is facing a crisis of legitimacy, capitalism is crumbling and the political structure is unravelling. Clinton only prevailed over Sanders at the expense of exposing the Democratic Party's corruption.

Sawant noted that Socialist Alternative had differences with Sanders over whether capitalism can be reformed (SA says no, Sanders, yes) and that it is time for the movement to begin moving beyond Bernie.

Cheri Honkala gave a brief talk endorsing Jill Stein and urging the movement to align with her in the 2016 election cycle.

Honkala stated that the Greens were in contact with Sanders candidates inside the DNC convention who were prepared to organize a walkout from the convention at some point during the procedings in the (likely) event of odious behavior on the part of the DNC.

Due to considerable laughter and cheering I missed some of the details of her last announcement to the effect that the Greens have been stockpiling beans in preparation for a "Fart-in" at the Convention site to protest how badly to process stinks.

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Arrow's picture

for relaying this Joe.

hope there's a podcast somewhere

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I want a Pony!

joe shikspack's picture

there were meeting scheduled around the country, there are some still to occur yet. check out the schedule here:

movement4bernie.org

there's also some information available on m4b's facebook page.

i haven't seen the video that was presented at the meeting on the net.

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Lookout's picture

I'm hoping for a walk out of the DNC - sure would be great if Bernie led the way. Did Jill say anything about asking Bernie to head the ticket?

Thanks for the report!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

joe shikspack's picture

as far as i am aware, sanders has been utterly unresponsive to jill stein, kshama sawant or anybody else that has asked him to go indie/green.

i would seriously doubt that bernie has any plans to walk out of the convention or go indie. he appears to have made his bed, so to speak.

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mimi's picture

just in case, the best way to get rid of bed bugs is to kill them with a lot of hot air, like with your hair dryer and go close up over the mattress. Or better, don't sleep in that bed to begin with.

Sigh. Let's make a lot of hot air then.

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Shockwave's picture

Democrats Pass Most Aggressive Climate Change Plan in Party History

ORLANDO, Fla. – Democrats agreed to the most aggressive plan to combat climate change in the history of the party here Saturday night. The accord commits Democrats to fight for a price on carbon, methane and other greenhouse gases and for massive investment in renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

It will also further advance the goals of the grassroots environmental movement by applying the formula that was used to evaluate and ultimately oppose the Keystone XL pipeline to all future fossil fuel pipeline projects. All federal decision making should look at the proposal’s impact on the climate, according to the new platform language.

While the plan does not ban fracking nationally as Sanders has called for, it will significantly limit fracking by forcing companies to disclose the chemicals they pump into the ground by eliminating the Halliburton Loophole. It also protects the right of states and localities to ban fracking.

...but if you thing global warming (that IS what it is) is one of the biggest threats we face (other than Trump with the nuclear trigger) and you live in an non-swing state, might as well go Green.

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The political revolution continues

joe shikspack's picture

call me cynical, but, i feel that all this wrangling over the platform appears to be a distraction. the platform is no more a guarantee of action than a candidate's promise - which is pretty much worthless.

if you are feeling like climate change is key issue, you'd be better off voting green no matter what kind of state you live in, whether it swings or not.

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OLinda's picture

Nice to see you on a Sunday. Smile

Re: the platform:

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OLinda's picture

I sure meant to say thank you very much for the report.

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joe shikspack's picture

i agree with sirota on the value of the platform. not only do we know the dems real agenda (of course, we knew that before) but we will see how big a lie they are willing to tell this time around.

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HRC's in the Go Big or Go Home League. And she'll know no shame about it either.

Thanks for the report, Joe. Wish I could be in Philly at the end of July.

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Yahoo

Mosquito Pilot's picture

Is to vote against your conscience

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Dig within. There lies the wellspring of all good. Ever dig and it will ever flow
Marcus Aurelius

People need to walk out of the convention, and away from the Democratic party.
I hope the independents will join the 99% who are not currently being represented by either party currently in power.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

joe shikspack's picture

it would be quite excellent if the delegates would stage a protest that is commensurate with the size of the betrayal that the democrats have committed.

i think the degree to which independents will join in voting for stein is the degree to which they can be convinced that it is not necessary to vote for the lesser evil. those of us who hope for there to be a chance for a decent candidate that represents the interests of the 99% to get elected (hell, even to get on the ballot in all 50 states, for that matter) are going to have to run a major public relations campaign against lesser evil voting.

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so yes, it is our real battle.
The last time Barney Frank got something right was when he said the reason Occupy would fail to change anything was that the whole movement was about awareness and conversation, not about the ballot.
We are a government voted in, and if you want better representative government, it requires politics.
We recently had an opportunity to vote for a revolution. I think "we" won, but the vote count was corrupted for Hillary, the poster child for LOTE.
We just have so much work to do.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

joe shikspack's picture

we are on the same page. the thing that worries me most is that it appears that, due to the corruption of the system, you can vote for revolution all you want, but you can't have it.

i sure hope that changes fast, before some bad stuff happens.

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riverlover's picture

and given no Bernie Choice in options said Jill Stein. I hope I bump up the Party approval ratings. I also said for the first time, "I am an Independent".

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

joe shikspack's picture

heh, feels good to say that you are not a member of one of the two corporate parties that are destroying america.

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riverlover's picture

I smiled when I said independent. Air!

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

and productive weekend. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I greatly admire Jill Stein--we voted for her in 2012. Also, I've heard of Cheri Honakala, but I don't believe that I've ever heard her speak (including on video).

My free time [this summer] will be a bit more constrained than usual; so, I'll be lucky to be able to attempt to tackle the "Medicare For Many" proposed policy.

Hey, see you at EB next week. And Everyone have a nice evening!

Bye

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) - Dogs Available For Adoption

Misty May - NMDR

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

riverlover's picture

Heart-tugging here.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

National Mill Dog Rescue hyperlink by her photo connects to a contact page for NMDR. (In case anyone is interested.)

She looks very much like Mr M's and my second dog (together). One reason she caught me eye, I suppose.

IIRC, she's just a little over 8 years old, and they rescued her at the end of June. The sweet girl 'deserves' a good home, considering all the litters of pups she's likely had to produce for the Puppy Mill--and the resulting stress and strain on her little body.

Sad

Have a good one!

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) - Dogs Available For Adoption

Misty May - NMDR

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

triv33's picture

On Saturday Cleetus and I went to add our names to the petition to get Jill on the ballot here in PA. We had to go to the vegetarian cafe two towns over. The Greens do not have a very heavy presence in my county. But I met, chatted with and exchanged info with two really cool people, so we'll see where that leads.

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I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~

joe shikspack's picture

the folks at the meeting passed around green petitions for a couple of counties around philly, so hopefully their alliance of convenience will help the greens organize in pa.

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divineorder's picture

Cheri was arrested alongside Jill while trying to get into Pesidential debates. Inspiring women.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

cheri's presentation was the most lively part of the meeting. it was great to meet her.

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shaharazade's picture

for both attending and reporting about this. We voted for Jill Stein in 2012 as 'better then the Mormon' as the pissed off Dems. I know said did not cut it. Fear will never get my vote again. It's crazy to think that the Democratic party is a lesser evil. What a circus this primary was and still is. If the Bernie delegates walk out at the convention it would make my heart sing.

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joe shikspack's picture

i also voted for jill in 2012. she was the only decent candidate on my ballot. i'd like to see a major walk-out of bernie delegates followed by a big de-registration of democratic voters. i have doubts about either happening, but, if clinton and her supporters act badly (which is a possibility) it might happen.

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