It’s no secret, I’m a huge supporter of Bernie Sanders for President, Senator, and as a person. In a time when more and more politicians are purchased by lobbyists with corporate interests, where lies and truths are mangled to the point of them both being unrecognizable, Bernie has breathed genuine passion, truth, and hope into tens of millions of people… including myself.
The DNC, led by Clinton surrogate Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, has done everything in her power to make sure Sanders doesn’t become the next president. Famed hacker “Guccifer 2.0” has claimed to successfully hacked the DNC servers and supplied damning evidence showing Hillary Clinton, along with the help of Wasserman-Schultz and the DNC colluding on how they will beat Donald Trump in the general election, including strategy of manipulating the media without “leaving fingerprints” and to “use specific hits to muddy the water around ethics, transparency, and campaign finance attacks” against Clinton. These strategies were introduced and drafted one month after Bernie Sanders entered the race, when the DNC was to be supporting all Democratic Nominees equally. Not only were they introduced after Sanders entered the race, when he gained popularity, Clinton was forced to use the same strategies regarding pushing her agenda through the media while they blacked out Senator Sanders. There is now a class action lawsuit being filed by thousands of DNC donors and Sanders supporters. This was only the tip of the iceberg.
Over the last 14 months, we have seen Clinton and the DNC use every trick possible to try and keep Sanders from amassing the votes and delegates needed to become the democratic nominee. They’ve committed egregious acts of voter suppression, election fraud, and media manipulation to accomplish their political goals and preserve their Establishment platform.
Clinton had commitments from 400 of her total 591 Super Delegates before any other democratic candidate even entered the race. That is roughly 1/6 of the total amount of delegates needed to secure the nomination. For perspective, right now it’s projected that although the delegate total is within 400 votes (2,811-1,879), the super delegate total is 591-48 in favor of Clinton… I really don’t need to elaborate on this.
In Phoenix, AZ, there were only 60 polling stations open to service 1.3 Million voters, causing some people to wait for hours voting lines. Most AZ counties averaged one polling station for every 2,500 or fewer voters, while in Maricopa Co. there was one polling station for every 21,000 people, forcing many (including the sick and elderly) to wait in line, for hours, in the AZ heat. Many were unable to wait due to parental, employment, or other obligations or appointments. Some even fainted and required medical attention. Similar reports came in from our brethren in Puerto Rico.
In Brooklyn, New York -Bernie’s Stomping Grounds – over 100,000 registered voters were purged and the Election Official was fired for her “error” that caused enough people to populate a small urban city to be unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote, sparking thousands of complaints.
In the state of Washington, where Bernie Sanders won every single county. Washington is also the only state in the union that has a “caucus” night and a “primary” night. The caucus is first, Bernie CRUSHED it. The primary was later, with most people feeling they already voted since they voted in the caucus. Along with the additional challenges that Sanders was having with his Independent following not being registered as democrats, obviously Clinton won round 2.
In Wyoming, Sanders defeated Clinton by 12%, and walked away with a 7-7 tie in delegates, in what originally was a delegate victory for Clinton after all precincts reported.
And NOTHING will top the “presumptive victory” that happened on a Monday, a day in which nobody voted, and in a day when an anonymous AP survey of super delegates was conducted, pushing Clinton “above” the delegate threshold needed to secure the nomination. This was done one day before the last round of “Super Tuesday” primaries, including pivotal California, where Sanders just held a sold out stadium rally and was gaining major momentum. It was the shadiest move by the media yet, in a primary season full of media blackouts, pointed questions, and speak of super delegate votes, regardless of what any DNC Chair says about super delegates not voting until July 25th.
With all of that being said, Bernie Sanders (technically) is still a candidate to represent the DNC in the general election. He has said he would vote for Clinton only in effort to defeat Trump at all costs, he hasn’t officially conceded or endorsed Clinton, and he has made clear he will not support her if she does not push some key points regarding the progressive agenda. Now, this will likely will not flip, and Hillary Clinton will likely be the Democratic nominee. By the looks and sounds of her surrogates’ actions at the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee, she has no plans to stray from the status quo and will not be pushing any progressive agenda. So be it. I don’t have to vote for her either.
Instead of fading in the wind, or fruitlessly endorsing a candidate he doesn’t believe in to advance his political career ala Senator Elizabeth Warren, he took a different approach and one often not taken. He live streamed the speech at the beginning of this post for his following to see. It has received nearly 1 million views in nearly two weeks. Tens of thousands watched live as they were expecting a concession speech and/or an endorsement for Clinton. Neither of which happened. Instead, he pled to his supporters to get involved and run for office – local, state, and federal. 7,000 people pledged within one day, including myself! 20,000 pledged after one week!!! This is huge, and was a brilliant strategic move in my opinion. If we would’ve just conceded, this relatively new, passionate, energetic, and pissed off movement may have just given up and folded their hands. We could’ve all easily said “this party is rigged” or “this system is rigged.” “Votes don’t count” and “what we do doesn’t matter” would continue to be the narrative driven by disgruntled citizens. Instead, the opposite happened. The Progressive Army is being rounded up, trained, motivated, inspired, and mobilized to hit the political playing field. From school board, to city council, to mayor… from Sheriff, to state congressman… from US Representatives and Senators. Get out, get active, and reshape the mold internally inside out. We pledged to campaign not just for Bernie, but for all progressives alike. Starting with our local offices. We have our platform. We have our agenda. We just need us in office to begin the political reform that is drastic need immediately.
I’ve pledged to run for office in the near future. I plan on running for school board within the next two years, and possibly city council. I plan on getting involved in my community, broadening my horizons and contacts around my area of residence and my area of interest, and will dedicate my life to doing what I can to help reshape society as we know it. I strongly urge you all to do so as well. This is the time. The movement is here. Leaders are stepping up everywhere, from renowned Scholar and Philosopher Cornel West to Congressman Keith Ellison, actors Jesse Williams, Danny Glover, and Rosario Dawson, musicians Killer Mike, Big Boi, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, activists Nina Turner, Deray McKesson, and Matthew Cook, media outlets such as Shaun King of the NY Daily News, Benjamin Dixon of the Benjamin Dixon Show and Progressive Army, Kyle Kulinski of Secular Talk Radio, Thom Hartmann of The Big Picture radio show, amongst many other individuals and groups who have organized and mobilized to attack the systemic machine.
I strongly urge everyone to increase their knowledge of local, state, and federal politics, run for office or at least figure out which candidates are fighting for your beliefs and agenda, and help support financially and via word of mouth your local progressive politicians and get them elected so this grassroots movement can reshape our political identity.
