In an echo of 2016, the undertone of
suspicion among Sanders supporters resurfaced Wednesday on social media
with posts carrying the hashtag #RiggedPrimary and #RiggedDNC. In recent
interviews at Sanders rallies, his supporters have openly expressed their fear that Democratic Party leaders will "steal" the nomination from him.
Sanders
himself outlined an us-vs.-them construct for the campaign at a news
conference Wednesday in Burlington, Vermont, where he listed the forces
stacked against him, including Wall Street and "the entire corporate
establishment."
"There has been
never a campaign in recent history which has taken on the entire
political establishment, and that is an establishment which is working
frantically to try to defeat us," he said.
"There
has not been a campaign that is trying to deal with the kind of venom
that we're seeing from some in the corporate media," Sanders added.
"This campaign has been compared to the coronavirus on television. We
have been described as the Nazi army marching across France, etc., etc.
As we come into the last several months of this campaign, what I hope
very much is that what we can focus on is an issue-oriented campaign,
which deals with the concerns of the American people."
When
asked about Bloomberg, Sanders said he had "no animus" toward the
former mayor, "but this just confirms exactly what I said. It's what the
media has been talking about for months. How do we stop Bernie Sanders?
How do we stop a movement of working people and low-income people? How
do we stop a multi-generational, multi-racial movement, which is
standing up for justice?"
Megan Devine (NY POST) notes that Joe's a problem:
The 77-year-old former vice president showed why, moments after taking the stage in Los Angeles on Tuesday night: He mistook his wife for his sister.
“They switched on me,” he tried to explain.
He went on to give a good speech about healing the nation, and dutifully kept to the script on his teleprompter.
But then a protester leaped on stage and Biden’s wife, Jill, 68, instinctively stepped between him and the lunging vegan, grabbed the woman by the wrists and shoved her away.
It was a heroic performance, but it also showed Biden’s peculiar passivity: He just stood there, not reacting, as his wife went into physical battle for him.
When the scuffle was over, he placed a protective arm on her back, but it was as if he didn’t realize what had just happened.
The truth is that anyone who has seen Biden up close knows he has some sort of cognitive impairment. He often seems bewildered, can’t remember what state he is in, if he’s running for the Senate or the presidency or even whether it’s Super Tuesday or “Super Thursday.”
On Monday, in Texas, he forgot the words of the Declaration of Independence mid-sentence, substituting “the thing” for God.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” he began. “All men and women created by the [pause, consternation, hands waving] go, you know, you know, the thing.”
It’s sad to see the fear in his face when he suffers these “senior moments.”
Everyone has memory lapses, but the problem for Biden is that his are all too frequent and bizarre, and the attempt to explain them away as a function of his childhood stutter are only a temporary diversion.
These are not just the tall tales and malapropisms that long have been part of the Biden persona. It’s something new.
We know he underwent surgery for two brain aneurysms in 1988, although his surgeon, Dr. Neal Kassell, recently said Biden did not suffer any brain damage “whatsoever.”
But the kindness that has suppressed any honest discussion about Biden’s mental acuity will be swept away if he wins the nomination.
If Joe gets the nomination, Donald gets four more years.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Joe Biden takes the lead -- at least for now -- after Super Tuesday.
ADDED: In Texas, the Democratic Party actively worked to reduce the youth and Latino vote. This was true at UT Austin, this was true in Dallas, Tyler and everywhere including smaller areas like Lindale. They targeted voting groups that they assumed would be Bernie Sanders supporters. These areas were understaffed -- intentionally -- and did not have enough voting machines -- intentionally -- in attempt to create long lines and lengthy waiting time in the hopes that people would leave without voting. Which did happen. USA TODAY has a ridiculous article claiming that Bernie's youth supporters just stayed home. That's not what happened in Texas. I'd be curious to know if this was replicated elsewhere in other states. I learned about this from e-mails from Texas community members and I then made calls to friends with the Democratic Party in Texas. This was not an accident.
ADDED II: 10 minutes after the above went up a friend at NBC called and said, "No, no, no. It's the GOP who closed polling places." The GOP controlled Texas government had closed and scaled back the polling places. That's true. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the decision to understaff the polling places in certain neighborhoods and that was done with the assistance of the Democratic Party in Texas -- assistance and support.
Go to end of this snapshot for more.
Super Tuesday came and went. One thing to note, March 15th, CNN hosts the next debate. The stage will no longer be crowded with so many already having dropped out. Point? US House Rep and Iraq War veteran Tulsi Gabbard has 1 delegate. She remains in the race. There's no reason to keep her off the stage. The race is now: Tulsi, Michael Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Michael Bloomberg has 18 delegates and he will be on the stage.
Bloomberg has spent over $500 million and that's what he has to show for it -- 18 delegates so far. Tulsi has not even spent a million and she's got one delegate. Unless she drops out before March 15th, she should be on the stage at the CNN debate. That's basic fairness and she's earned her spot. The DNC was more than happy to break the rules to let Bloomberg on the stage. They should have the decency to allow Tulsi on the stage.
I am not a Tulsi supporter. I'm also not a Joe Biden supporter and I'm aware that Tulsi on stage likely means Tulsi making excuses for Joe -- as she did in the debate that took place at the end of July. There is no benefit for the candidate I'm supporting (Bernie Sanders) for Tulsi to appear on the stage.
But this is about democracy with the little "d" and about the people's right to be informed. Tulsi deserves to be on the stage.
NBC has Joe Biden in the delegate lead after last night with 453. Amy Klobuchar is out the race and has endorsed Joe. You can pretty much toss her 7 votes in with Joe's for his total of 460 and Tiny Pete has dropped out and also endorsed Joe so you can add his 26 to that for a total of 486. Bernie has 373 and Elizabeth Warren has 39. Some have been insisting Elizabeth staying in the race is hurting Bernie. With 39, that's not really hurting him. He would be closer to Joe if he had her votes but he wouldn't be ahead of Joe. And Elizabeth voters would not necessarily go with Bernie.
I don't see a path to victory for her and I don't know why anyone's steal donating to the campaign. In 2008, you could argue that Hillary had a shot even after the press said she didn't. It made sense for her to stay in the race if that's what she wanted.
If Elizabeth wants to stay in the race, she should. But her delegate count is not anywhere near what Hillary had in 2008 and there's no path to victory unless she's thinking that the battle between Joe and Bernie supporters will be so intense at the convention that the DNC will go with a compromise candidate. Were that to happen, the compromise candidate would be off to a bad start -- whether it was Elizabeth or anyone else -- because the two most popular candidates were being sidelined to go with someone that the public really didn't seem to want.
If we had rank choice voting, things might be different for Elizabeth. We don't have it, though. We should, but we don't.
ADDED: In Texas, the Democratic Party actively worked to reduce the youth and Latino vote. This was true at UT Austin, this was true in Dallas, Tyler and everywhere including smaller areas like Lindale. They targeted voting groups that they assumed would be Bernie Sanders supporters. These areas were understaffed -- intentionally -- and did not have enough voting machines -- intentionally -- in attempt to create long lines and lengthy waiting time in the hopes that people would leave without voting. Which did happen. USA TODAY has a ridiculous article claiming that Bernie's youth supporters just stayed home. That's not what happened in Texas. I'd be curious to know if this was replicated elsewhere in other states. I learned about this from e-mails from Texas community members and I then made calls to friends with the Democratic Party in Texas. This was not an accident.
ADDED II: 10 minutes after the above went up a friend at NBC called and said, "No, no, no. It's the GOP who closed polling places." The GOP controlled Texas government had closed and scaled back the polling places. That's true. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the decision to understaff the polling places in certain neighborhoods and that was done with the assistance of the Democratic Party in Texas -- assistance and support.
Go to end of this snapshot for more.
Super Tuesday came and went. One thing to note, March 15th, CNN hosts the next debate. The stage will no longer be crowded with so many already having dropped out. Point? US House Rep and Iraq War veteran Tulsi Gabbard has 1 delegate. She remains in the race. There's no reason to keep her off the stage. The race is now: Tulsi, Michael Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Michael Bloomberg has 18 delegates and he will be on the stage.
Bloomberg has spent over $500 million and that's what he has to show for it -- 18 delegates so far. Tulsi has not even spent a million and she's got one delegate. Unless she drops out before March 15th, she should be on the stage at the CNN debate. That's basic fairness and she's earned her spot. The DNC was more than happy to break the rules to let Bloomberg on the stage. They should have the decency to allow Tulsi on the stage.
I am not a Tulsi supporter. I'm also not a Joe Biden supporter and I'm aware that Tulsi on stage likely means Tulsi making excuses for Joe -- as she did in the debate that took place at the end of July. There is no benefit for the candidate I'm supporting (Bernie Sanders) for Tulsi to appear on the stage.
But this is about democracy with the little "d" and about the people's right to be informed. Tulsi deserves to be on the stage.
NBC has Joe Biden in the delegate lead after last night with 453. Amy Klobuchar is out the race and has endorsed Joe. You can pretty much toss her 7 votes in with Joe's for his total of 460 and Tiny Pete has dropped out and also endorsed Joe so you can add his 26 to that for a total of 486. Bernie has 373 and Elizabeth Warren has 39. Some have been insisting Elizabeth staying in the race is hurting Bernie. With 39, that's not really hurting him. He would be closer to Joe if he had her votes but he wouldn't be ahead of Joe. And Elizabeth voters would not necessarily go with Bernie.
I don't see a path to victory for her and I don't know why anyone's steal donating to the campaign. In 2008, you could argue that Hillary had a shot even after the press said she didn't. It made sense for her to stay in the race if that's what she wanted.
If Elizabeth wants to stay in the race, she should. But her delegate count is not anywhere near what Hillary had in 2008 and there's no path to victory unless she's thinking that the battle between Joe and Bernie supporters will be so intense at the convention that the DNC will go with a compromise candidate. Were that to happen, the compromise candidate would be off to a bad start -- whether it was Elizabeth or anyone else -- because the two most popular candidates were being sidelined to go with someone that the public really didn't seem to want.
If we had rank choice voting, things might be different for Elizabeth. We don't have it, though. We should, but we don't.
Impressive victory yesterday for the liberal oligarchy! Big congrats to their corporate media for demonstrating the power of redbaiting and fearmongering. Hats off to Obama, Hillary, Liz, Pete, Amy - nice inside/outside game. #VoteBlueNoMatterWho They Screw! #AnybodyButBernie
Oh, John, let's not leave at the corporate media. Let's include people like Cher.
Cher wouldn't have an Academy Award were it not for who? Jeff Corey. Why did Corey become an acting teacher? Because the red-baiting blacklist of the McCarthy era destroyed his acting career. No one would hire him. So he became a teacher and he taught people like Cher and Jack Nicholson and Jane Fonda and many more.
Cher pays it forward in 2020 by? By red-baiting Bernie Sanders.
What a proud moment for the always reactionary Cher. Actions -- even reactionary ones -- have consequences. I think your smooth easy ride since "Believe" is now over. You've awakened hatered and you will suffer because of it. That's not me, I'm not pleased with what Cher but I still like her as a person. But we live today in a cancel culture and Cher will feel the bark and the bite of that. Sorry, it's called karma.
Joe is in the lead and a lot of liars and losers put him there. Last night, in his speech, he confused his wife with his own sister. That wasn't funny and it wasn't cute. It's a sign that the mind is gone. It's a sign of how confused he is. Yes, many believe Ronald Regan suffered similarly in his second term. That didn't make it right. Joe's not fit for the job.
Donald Trump will not be nice during a debate. He will not be Amy Klobuchar.
In the last debate, Amy had the floor and was talking about a bill she passed and Joe Biden jumped in to insist that he passed that bill.
Amy politely corrected him and then, when he continued to insist that he had passed it, she said they'd leave it up to the fact checkers.
That won't be Donald on stage or after.
And the after is really important.
Many fact checkers went with the lie -- the lie -- that they were both right.
No, they were not both right.
Amy was right. She had the floor and was talking about the bill she put forward. Joe cut her off and started talking about a different bill from long ago.
Liars in the media tried to say, they're both right, they were talking about different bills.
No, Amy was right.
Amy was talking about her bill, had identified the elements of it and Joe interrupted to bring up his bill which was not the same. Joe was wrong.
The corporate media's refusal to be accurate on something so basic will not happen with Donald Trump. If he is right (or thinks he is), he's not going to let it blow over the way Amy did. He's not going to be nice.
Joe is not ready for the debate stage, he is not ready for the presidency.
If Joe manages to win or steal the nomination, we will likely see four more years of Donald Trump and, if that is the case, the DNC and Joe's supporters better ready for the fall out.
Joe campaigns on the past and offers nothing for the future.
Joe Biden has promised his billionaire donors that if he wins the Democratic primary, he will make sure that “nothing would fundamentally change” for them.
That is absolutely unacceptable.
Bernie is the clear choice for those focused on the present and the future.
Joe Queally (COMMON DREAMS) notes:
While there is still much counting of votes to be done before the overall outcome of Super Tuesday is fully calculated and understood, the key takeaway from the Democratic Party's largest single-day of voting thus far—with 14 states up for grabs, including Texas and California—is that what was once the largest presidential field of candidates in living memory is now down to just two: Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
As of this writing, Biden—whose campaign was considered all but dead last week but enjoyed a great night for his campaign by steamrolling in the South and nabbing at least two upsets from Sanders—was able to claim victory in eight states: Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Minnesota, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, news outlets called the biggest prize of the night, California, for Sanders, who also won in Colorado, Utah, and Vermont.
The corporate press is lost as usual. Many are still on the Bernie has a memo about the differences between him and Joe!
The upcoming story? As a friend on the Bloomberg campaign told me, *supporters* are making clear to Michael Bloomberg that he must destroy at the next debate or drop out -- and by destroy, they're not worried about Bernie. They want him to go after Joe.
“This is a fight for Iraq, not for politicians.” Sharp reporting on Iraqi street protests from @leloveluck & @Mustafa_salimb washingtonpost.com/world/middle_e…
Yes, the protests continue in Iraq.
"The use of innovative nonviolent tactics as well as strong participation by female organizers and protesters is a testament to the rupture with past uprisings in Iraq..."
nonviolent-conflict.org/blog_post/from… #IraqProtests #civilresistance
Watch: Anti-Riot forces continue Repressive practices against #Iraqi protesters at #AlKhilani Square.
#BaghdadPost #IraqProtests
#saveIraqipeople #FreeIraq
Telegram Channel: t.me/TheBaghdadPost…
Iraqi forces again fired hunting guns at demonstrators in Khalani Square today. Tear gas was different from what a normal tear gas should be. Many people collapsing unable to breathe.
#iraqprotests #Baghdadprotests
#Baghdad
The following sites updated:
This Tweet.
People waited HOURS to cast their votes in Texas yesterday.
One man's take: "They must have been doing this on purpose."
“They,” being GOP legislators, ARE doing this on purpose. It's voter suppression—and it's meant to benefit the Republican Party.
Thank you for your reactionary take, Canadian asshole Paul Cogan. No one needs you, stick your nose back into your own damn country. The GOP had little concern with the Democratic Party in Texas. It's a 'red' state. In a general election, Paul Cogan's b.s. might make sense. In a primary, no.
He's an idiot.
i know people who were planning on voting bernie in texas that had to leave the line to go pick up kids from daycare or go to work. 4-7 hour wait times is nothing short of voter suppression. cant believe its even an argument.
KT is correct, it's voter suppression.
Replying to and
You just watched the Democrat party practice voter suppression in Texas and California. And you're sitting here bitching about Republicans. You don't know what you're talking about.
It must be nice that so many stupid people are around to insist that, in a primary, the GOP focus was suppressing the Democratic outcome. This wasn't a general elecction. Propertunist is correct, the Democratic Party practiced voter suppression in Texas (I would assume in California as well but I haven't spoken yet to anyone there about it).
And notice that Eddie Bernice Johnson, Sheila Lee and assorted others did nothing to draw attention to this as it was taking place.
