tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post3943809361486736521..comments2024-03-26T14:20:38.103-04:00Comments on The Thought Criminal: Instead Of Whining Over 2016 Again Make Some Real Reforms To Fix The Democratic Party Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-29993274377740879332017-11-03T18:05:06.625-04:002017-11-03T18:05:06.625-04:00I think you are right about this.
It is really b...I think you are right about this. <br /><br />It is really bizarre that people are acting as if Bernie Sanders is a Democrat when he takes every opportunity to point out he isn't one. <br /><br />I really think the Democratic Party needs to take control of its own political destiny because it's been way too open to the kind of manipulation that non-democrat have practiced on it. <br /><br />I caught some staged outrage by Jeff Weaver, who is one of the few people in politics who I think, if I met him, I'd be unable to keep from punching in the face. I confess that I really hate that guy, though there are lots of others. The Thought Criminalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01381376556757084468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-23287121308270813362017-11-03T17:39:01.840-04:002017-11-03T17:39:01.840-04:00I'm going to add this concluding paragraph to ...I'm going to add this concluding paragraph to an article at the Atlantic about Brazile's story (needless to say, her story should not be taken as gospel or even as history):<br /><br />"The fact that an operator like Brazile is willing to burn bridges with the Clintons, though, is important. Although one might have assumed Hillary Clinton’s time as a Democratic mover and shaker was passed, her frequent appearances to promote her book suggest she remains interested in staying in the arena, and earlier this week Jeet Heer argued that she should be the Democrat’s standard-bearer against Trump. (Never mind that we’ve seen how that turned out once before.) But Brazile’s bound toward the Bernie bandwagon is another indication of how Sanders is, at least for the moment, the de facto leader of the Democratic Party."<br /><br />More than anything else, I think that's what's going on here. The Queen is dead, long live the King. Brazile is a player, and Clinton (both of them) are politically dead actors, especially after Hillary lost to Trump. Her story in Politico, understood in that light, becomes a lot less important and explosive.<br /><br />OTOH, the damage is done. Frankly, I think she should be saddled with that burden, but whaddo I know?<br /><br />Here's the Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/donna-braziles-curious-account-of-the-2016-election/544778/Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-71674680880030408992017-11-03T10:54:08.235-04:002017-11-03T10:54:08.235-04:00the DNC couldn't get its hands on. With money...the DNC couldn't get its hands on. With money comes power, and to the extent the Clinton's 'bought' the DNC, that was something of an open secret.<br /><br />Basically the people screaming now are akin to Trump finding out there's a lottery system for immigrants, and accusing foreign countries of sending their worst people here via that lottery, because Trump doesn't understand the immigration system at all and presumes some idiotic answer that fits his ignorance. Bernie supporters, with no experience/background in the Democratic party, found it a closed book and a glass darkly because they'd never tried to read it or turn the lights on behind it.<br /><br />We assume, because it ends in the election of a President, and because it is established in state law in all 50 states, that the Presidential primaries are a government function, but they aren't. Laws restrict ballot access, but don't determine how the parties run their primaries or caucuses (Texas still uses both, so the primary vote doesn't really elect the nominee, at least not among Democrats) Controlling the process is not the same thing as defrauding the process. I'm thinking specifically of Trump's complaints, now. <br /><br />That the Democratic candidate lost to Trump is an indictment of the Democratic party. Starting another "Bernie wuz robbed!" argument doesn't reverse the outcome of the election, and doesn't mean Bernie would have defeated Trump. Like Obama, the Clintons are gone from the scene. They may have left a lasting mark and a party in shambles, but it's up to the party to avoid the situation Brazile describes: a structure (the DNC) so broken it needs a savior. I think the problem is less that Clinton saved the DNC, than that the DNC had to be saved.<br /><br />Power always follows money; that's the whole idea behind campaign finance regulation. If all we're going to do is re-litigate the 2016 primaries, we are going to do Trump's job for him, and there's no need to worry that he'll get the FBI involved (he won't). If we don't look at why the DNC needed saving, we won't prevent 2016 from happening again, and probably in 2020 (if not 2018).Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.com