For an old guy who had a heart attack, you have to give Bernie Sanders credit. He’s not just still standing, but he remains a player, along with his wild socialist ideas. As Bernie says, the ideas that would have been laughed out of the party a few years ago are not only being taken seriously, but are finding the cracks in the Democratic establishment as Biden recognizes that he needs the Bernie bros, the Warren identitarians, the youth vote, to beat back the Trump idiocracy.
Last night, Bernie got over 8 minutes of air time at the Democratic National (kinda) Convention.
He said the words, “we need Joe Biden.” But that’s only because the first step of the next election is to oust Darth Cheeto. But what about the second step?
“Now, the day after Biden is elected, we have got to mobilize and organize all over this country to make sure that Biden becomes as progressive a president as is possible, that Democrats control the Senate and the House, and that we can put sufficient pressure on Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to carry out a progressive agenda.”
Sure, Trump is the worst, a vulgar, amoral, lying ignoramus, whose only redeeming feature (to the extent that applies) is his astounding incompetence. Getting rid of Trump, who many fear won’t go quietly into the night as he’s been prepping for the 82nd Airborne to swoop in and seize the “rigged” ballots, since the “nasty” Dems are so much more powerful, smart and effective than he, poor victimized Trump, could ever be.
Bernie has a point. His appeal to the young, poor and miserable is obvious, nothing is their fault and they can have the wonderful world that’s been stolen from them for free if they only squint and believe. Neither Biden nor Harris, who is every bit as obsessed with her own self-aggrandizement as Trump but far smarter and more competent, is entirely on board. But then, they aren’t entirely unwilling to sell the dream to Bernie’s believers in exchange for their votes.
Mr. Sanders cited recent primary victories by some of the most progressive members of the House, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar as examples of left endurance, despite the machinations of powerful, moneyed opponents. There were new primary victories for the left as well: In New York, Jamaal Bowman took out Eliot Engel in a hard-fought race, while Cori Bush pulled off a surprise upset against William Lacy Clay in Missouri. Mr. Sanders pointed out that, down the ballot — sometimes way down the ballot — state and local governments are quietly welcoming new members from the Democratic Socialists of America, a major left organizing group that proudly backed Mr. Sanders.
Assuming, arguendo, that Biden defeats Trump in an election that cannot be denied, that the Secret Service will escort the evicted occupant from the White House, what becomes of the second “election,” the one where the same protesters, and rioters and looters, take to the streets to let the president know that while they preferred him over Trump, they don’t prefer him. And they don’t love Pelosi or Schumer much either, as the old, failed, establishment Dems whose time is up.
Is Joe Biden a placeholder, an old man whose failed past campaigns make him good enough to oust Trump but weak enough that the progressive left can own him, destroy him, if they ramp up their marches, their resistance, their damage? The strategy is to make the cost of not letting them have their way in destruction of property, business and normality high enough that people who go to work, feed the kids, try to survive, will acquiesce in their reimagination of America. They may not represent the majority of Americans, but they represent a sufficiently large group willing to engage in violence and destruction that they will force America to negotiate terms with them.
Trump can’t stop the anarchy in the streets, no matter how many feds he sends in or how many rubber bullets they fire. Can Biden? Can Harris? If Biden is elected, will they stop marching or march more and harder?
Bernie Sanders didn’t get the nomination, and yet he’s the power broker. Does that make him the real winner? Is there any alternative to end the insanity?
*Tuesday Talk rules apply.
Discover more from Simple Justice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
This is reactionary nonsense from a diehard capitalist clutching his pearls. Bernie can try his damnedest to get the Dems to move leftward, but it’s not going to work. Biden and co. will give enough lip service to “leftist” ideas to placate the dumb cheeto-dust obsessed masses. Biden will do what Obama and other progressive candidates did before him if he wins, nothing real for the working class while claiming that he is doing more than anyone else would which might be true. Biden won the primary. The voices you’re so worried about weren’t even enough to ensure their candidate would face down the Great Evil.
So, no, Bernie is not the “real winner”. The alternative to this insanity is a return to a sort of normal where the extremely powerful executive branch tries to maintain some dignity while it bombs, invades, and oppresses with impunity. The Reps have their vocal minority in the tea party and now the Dems do too with the dsa whatever that is. Not that any party would dare to contest American exceptionalism and capitalism. Your dear economic system is safe for now.
Rest easy, Pops. This stress isn’t good for your health. Don’t go inventing new problems to worry about. We have plenty right in front of us.
For a kid with so little faith in Biden, you have great faith in Biden.
Except it won’t be Biden running things, it will be Sanders and Harris.
Maybe I’m wrong but it looks like the Democrats have have another “Anybody but Hillary” election headed their way.
The Trump campaign is probably preparing an ad using Bernie’s speech right now. The progressives are so close to total victory that they cannot control their mouths. In this, they are a lot like Trump. It makes me wonder which side is going to self destruct before November.
A Biden administration will do well if they fix what’s broken: Obamacare, Social Security, student loans, DACA, etc. After that, maybe they can throw a bone to the progressives.
But can they?
They need that “it isn’t over” filler material to explain a dissonance in their signal. On the one hand, taking out Trump is the most critical mission in history. On the other, they are sending Gropey Grandpa Senile and a Kameleon as the very best people they could find for the task. Unca Bernie helps to explain that the larger intent is for others to seize the controls once the ballots have been counted (i.e. they don’t really plan to let Grandpa drive).
You know in the old days
When a young man was a strong man
All the people they’d step back
When a young man walked by
But you know nowadays
It’s the old man,
He’s got all the money
And a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
The thing about young men with the blues is they eventually grow older.
I’m old, but I still get the summertime blues. 🙁
There ain’t no cure.
True, but I was hoping that, like pimples, I would age out.
I live in Oregon and I am terrified of the mob that come with the Democrats. Not the antifa but the holier than thou progressives. I am leaning towards Trump because I know the very bad result that I will get. Biden and Harris are mediocrities but have shown no backbone against the wackos. Righteous mobs scare me more than bad people.
During the pandemic, the most pressing issue in my city was unnaming Jefferson school. The city forgot about payroll taxes and the councilors are not following public meeting laws but at least we no longer have a school named after the writer of the Declaration of Independence.
Others from Oregon will gush at the wonderful protests. It’s almost as if there was no such thing as elections to decide whether to live in a state of anarchy or society.