Our Bernie Sanders Moment - Salon

[WillyT]

Our Bernie Sanders moment: This July 4, remember only true independence and revolution ever brings change
Tectonic change comes when people are hopeful and sense something new is possible. Here's how we build on victories
Patrick L. Smith - Salon
Saturday, Jul 4, 2015 07:45 AM PST


Bernie Sanders (Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin/Salon)

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I got off Hillary’s bus long ago. Anyone remember November 1999, when, as first lady, she traveled to the West Bank, where she lunched and exchanged ceremonial praises with Suha Arafat, the late Yasser’s wife? On departing she kissed Suha Arafat on the cheek—a kiss of Judas straight out of Matthew, for when Clinton arrived in Jerusalem to shrieks of protest, she thought nothing of denouncing Arafat and effectively denying the gesture of friendship made a matter of hours earlier.

Unforgivable, but that is Hillary. Opportunism incarnate is all I see. To be honest, until Sanders announced his candidacy I could not think of a single reason to vote. We were offered no choice.

In pursuing the Democratic nomination, Sanders has craftily averted all the “don’t split the vote” rubbish one heard when Ralph Nader ran as the candidate of the Greens, the Vermont Progressives and the United Citizens Party. This is exceptionally astute. There is nothing better than winning, but a close second in the current American context is pushing candidates with alternative politics in voters’ faces and forcing them to think about what they have to say.

Such candidates have a cumulative effect, in other words, that can take several election cycles to play out. The rapid pace of recent events notwithstanding, we have to think in terms of a generational project, it seems to me. In repudiating Nader in 2000, those who may otherwise have supported him missed this, so that when the election was over, George W. the victor, Democrats were at square one, no ground gained, as there could have been, in the course of the defeat.

I would support Sanders on this basis alone. In a phrase, he speaks to the groundswell. He is rising expectations, so obvious on this 239th anniversary, made flesh. And in this Sanders stands more or less alone among holders of high office for the moment, unless we count the reticent Elizabeth Warren.

And here is the lesson the Obama administration leaves us with. As expectations rise by way of big victories, we do not need another gradualist who comes out of the policy cliques, or is too weak to resist them, and is hence available to be betrayed in their internecine wars for power. If the successes of the past few weeks tell us anything, it is that transformers, not transitioners, are required if we are to make sense of our time. Obama wanted to be the former but has turned out the latter.

More broadly, we must begin to identify mythologizers and exceptionalists, no matter their professed stripe—and Hillary and her former boss are of this type. And we must recognize the historicists among us, such as Bernie Sanders. If this is what sets Sanders fundamentally apart, I urge we learn from him the importance of the distinction: Unless Americans master the exceptionalist impulse and dispose of all its attendant rhetoric, no battle worth fighting can be decisively won.

Genuine Americans are critical Americans. This is by definition. And they are unceasingly critical of the definition itself. Critical Americans just handed us some excellent news. Happy 4th to them, especially.

Much More: http://www.salon.com/2015/07/04/our_bernie_sanders_moment_this_july_4_remember_only_true_independence_and_revolution_ever_brings_change/

[antigop]

1. "Opportunism incarnate is all I see." nt

[JDPriestly]

2. I don't know whether it is Bernie's presence in the campaign or that Obama

feels a little freer in his last years of the presidency, but with the exception of the TPP and trade betrayals, I think Obama is doing some things a lot better than he did in his first years in office. Immigration reform, overtime wage reform, wage reform for US contractors, Cuba reform, and now pardons for at least a few non-violent prisoners. It's an improvement.

The country is turning left. Sanders is the candidate of the moment. No question. It's the right direction.

We tried trickle down and conservatism and it has not worked for us.

I think we are starting in a different direction and Sanders is leading us. Hillary still has the lead in the polls, but Sanders is leading in terms of momentum.

Go, Bernie.

[Enthusiast]

5. You're right again, as usual. But the harm of the TPP will far exceed any good done by the others.

I'm just saying.

[JDPriestly]

7. That's the sad fact. When we think of Bill Clinton, we think of NAFTA.

We think of the mistakes he made.

[99Forever]

14. This, far more than anything else will define Obama.

It is quite sad he wasted what was handed him.

[Enthusiast]

16. The greatest mandate in all of history.

But there is more to this than meets the eye. I would like to know the full truth. I doubt we will ever know.

[swilton]

3. Great article!

Thank you!

[sadoldgirl]

4. This is -at least I hope - a totally

different situation than 2008, and we were not given a real choice
in 2012. Bernie is no saint and brings some problems with him.
I say that as a strong Bernie supporter.

The quest is not just to elect Bernie, which is a given, but
for all his supporters to realize that much more is asked of them.

Should he win, which is possible, he needs all his "troops"
to work with him for years to come. In other words to start
at the local levels to change the aims of the democratic
party, to -not just write to - but to go in person to our
elected officials for his issues, etc.

The question is are those, who are right now carried by
his message, willing to follow up? I don't know the answer.
If we are not though, not Bernie, but we his supporters
will be responsible for a failure.I wonder how many of
Bernie's followers realize this.

Democracy cannot survive without the strong participation
of its citizens.

[bigtree]

6. I don't remember Sanders as a fervent opposition to the Obama administration

Last edited Sun Jul 5, 2015, 12:54 AM - Edit history (1)

...he caucused with Democrats and he voted quite frequently with them. Lot and lots of people in our party hold very fast to their ideals, but in our political system of government they're rarely able to keep those ideals intact when it comes to reconciling them into actual votes in our national legislature. Sanders understands this as well as anyone. He's operated and voted that way as a Senator caucusing with Democrats.

I think rhetoric like this is wonderful. In fact, much of what's written here was written about Barack Obama in 2008. While we may well take this opportunity to bask in Sanders' unwavering rhetoric and a groundswell of support in our Democratic primary, we shouldn't lose sight of the reception to this candidacy from the majority who isn't yet in the Sanders camp. That includes voters in our party who stand with the woman so readily and blithely demonized here.

Is there really nothing supporters have gained from their candidate's pledge to rise above this kind of personalization of his rivals? It's a wonder they expect to garner enough of their support to get to the finish line.

[JDPriestly]

8. It's the job of the canddidates to run positive campaigns, to talk about their

ideals and ideas and what they will do or try to do if elected.

It is the job of the rest of us to observe the candidates, to compare what they say and who they are and decide who to vote for.

We can't pick which candidate to vote for without comparing the candidates. I feel rather sorry for the Hillary supporters. She does not fare well in the comparisons. It is easy to find problems with Hillary's candidacy, not so easy with Bernie's. Most Democrats agree with Bernie. Hillary presents some good proposals. But Hillary's campaign is dull. I for one have to conclude that that is because she is tired of it all down deep. Bernie on the other hand is truly excited by the challenge of working with Americans to solve the problems of our country. He proves that in every speech. It's that sincere enthusiasm that is carrying his momentum forward.

So the candidates are supposed to focus on the issues. We voters have to make the choice, and we can't make that unless we compare the candidates.

I have yet to hear from any Hillary supporter a convincing reason to support her rather than Bernie.

[WillyT]

9. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!!

We shall see if the old game works anymore...

[bigtree]

10. I don't disagree with most of what you said

...as a Democratic campaign, Sanders has captured that desire for a clear opposition. What's not as clear is if that opposition he's offering is going to be seen by voters as one which will translate into effective governance. That appears to be Hilliary's best position; her adherence to coalition politics, representing the policies of most members of our current party. That's reflected in the apparent support her candidacy is receiving from many progressives in Congress. I'm not going to spend my time representing her campaign, however, something that's just not in my own interest.

Now what Bernie and others can do in this primary is to create that 'movement' he's talking about which would shake up that legislature. You have to wonder, though, what impact lining up behind him is going to have on those races, especially if he's left the current make-up of the party's concerns unattended as he pursues his scorched-earth campaign. But it's certainly worthwhile, I think, to make that attempt.

The article dismisses the need for worry about 'splitting the vote.' I'm old enough to remember losing campaigns which paid little heed to the general election. A lot of criticism of Hilliary's campaign has been of her inclusion of populist or more progressive pronouncements in her campaign, as if that's just opportunism. It may well be, but it's a smart move to avoid alienating as much of the left of the party as she's able with an eye toward building the coalition needed to succeed in the end. Despite the strident talk about 'revolutions,' that's not going to be accomplished with a splintering of the party.

Is there enough concern, or as much as Hillary has indicated with her appeal, in the Sanders camp for pulling the party together for the campaign against the republican rival? We're not going to succeed by bullying voters into accepting the Sanders candidacy.

More to the point of the article, there isn't room for 'generational' efforts or 'several election cycles' which threaten to leave our prospects for success in shambles. That's what concerns me in representing Hillary and Obama as evil incarnate. That's Sen. Sanders' concern, it appears, as well. We just can't afford another republican presidency. Indifference to that prospect sounds bold and righteous, but it tempts an untenable fate much worse than a Clinton presidency (or, conversely, a Sanders or O'Malley presidency, from the opposite perspective).

[JDPriestly]

11. I disagree with this essential assumption upon which your views are based:

Hillary is "adher[ing] to coalition politics, representing the policies of most members of our current party. That's reflected in the apparent support her candidacy is receiving from many progressives in Congress."

We shall see how much support Hillary retains from progressives in Congress after we see how much support Hillary wins in the primaries.

Hillary has made so many statements in the past that belie her sudden fervor for so many progressive positions. She was against gay marriage before she was for it. That's just one example. She was a critic of "illegal" immigration before she favored amnesty (I'm assuming she now favors amnesty.) She was for the Iraq War before she was against it. I'm not creating her record. She did.

We don't know to what extent the support of Hillary in Congress among Progressives is due to their assumption that she will win the primary and their desire to be on the winning side.

They may be wrong about her being the ultimate winner. We don't know who will win the primary. We don't even know who will make it through the primary.

At this point it is the task of each voter to assess the candidates. Discussing the advantages and disadvantages and the pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses of each contender is the job of the voters. We can do it with our friends and families and that includes our friends on DU.

If you assume that Hillary will win the primaries, then the whole process seems like one annoying, dangerous, divisive exercise. But I don't assume that Hillary will win. I assume that I don't know who will win. I want Bernie Sanders to win, but I don't assume that he will. I assume that he can, but not that he will.

The primaries are the time for the party to be divided. I don't want a candidate who represents the status quo in the Democratic Party. This current party can't seem to win state or mid-term elections. That suggests to me that it is not inspiring people to vote and not doing a good job. We need to revamp the party top down. Bernie could well be the one to do that. Howard Dean made a good start at doing it until Obama unfortunately replaced him with some horribly boring bureaucratic types.

We shall see. Politics should be exciting. Bernie has both the wisdom to govern well as proved with so many of his stances and votes in the past as well as a surprising charisma that attracts young and old.

We shall see how the campaign turns out. But it is much too soon to try to limit Democrats by positing that the one of the candidates is either inevitable or already anointed. Much too soon.

[Enthusiast]

17. You always see through to the heart of the matter.

[WillyT]

12. Last Kick From Me... I Think...

[RiverLover]

13. R&K!!!

Thanks for posting! The entire article is worth reading.

[99Forever]

15. Great morning read, thanks WillyT. n/t