An open letter to Hillary and any DNC members tipping the scale for HRC from a common non-elite man

[Dragonfli]

I often resist the urge to poorsplain' to Hillary Clinton and the obviously financially secure members of the DNC (especially you Debbie Wasserman Schultz) and all the others in the Democratic establishment that keep telling us how well we are all doing, how we are in recovery, how we are on the right track and will continue on this "right track" if we come to heel, just ignore a better option for us and simply elect your wealthy associate Hillary Clinton, after all, those that matter, those that can fill the DNC coffers, will have great access to such a President!

What about our access to a lack of worry about our electricity or gas being cut off because we are juggling bills?
What about our access to a lack of fear of eviction when the numbers don't add up and rent can't be paid that month?
What about our access to a dignified, well-funded mass transit system?
What about our access to education without a lifetime of crushing debt as well as job opportunities that leave us above poverty?

These are questions I ask on a daily basis. What might shock some of you cheerleaders of a system rigged by the elite, for the elite is that those are among the most common thoughts to enter the minds of the average American in this day and age, yes, I said average, but it really is more like the majority of Americans. The majority of us have been left behind in an economy where we lose more each day as the well to do gain more each day, what makes matters worse is that we no longer appear to have much in the way of representation no matter how we vote even if we vote as our own party would have us vote.

I would give what little remains of my life for a party of the people, a labor party, a party that is concerned about the rising and rampant poverty all around the insulated bubbles of the few remaining middle class and the members of our wealthy political elite that love to tell me how great we are doing, how progressive our party is, how our leaders "feel our pain".

I would poorsplain' to you all what the true reality is, our party that once represented the people has for the past thirty years abandoned us to decay as a people as completely as they have abandoned the crumbling bridges, roads, and empty factories that once were the life blood of a people first marginalized, then ignored, and now completely invisible. - it is as if the majority of Americans do not exist to you in your ivory towers.

I would do this splainin' but such is condescension, and anger does not translate well as condescension, but rather rage repressed becomes expressed, and you are an insulated bubble of cheer leading "sports team" enthusiasts that do not have the worries of the common man and as such are quite fragile and easily offended, so much so that you would at first silence me within your "hallowed" halls were I to quietly attempt to poorsplain' to you in person the nature of the reality of the suffering all around you that you are blind to.

Then my condescension would turn to rage and a louder voice, yet before the first paragraph were completed such truth told loudly and plainly would usher in your well suited goons that protect those as privileged as yourselves who would have me roughly handled out the door if not prison itself for my impassioned attempt at "free speech". For such free speech is only allowed from mouths that are fed from golden spoons within such "hallowed" halls as yours....

[haikugal]

1. Wow. Thank you for saying it so clearly.

[Dragonfli]

9. Thank you, I'm not so sure about clearly, but honestly and straight from the heart.

[oldandhappy]

2. well said

I wonder about the rage. I am not ahead of the game but I can pay my electric bill. For those who cannot -- how long before that rage spills over and becomes an actual physical force? The DNC has been visibly manipulative. MSM and DNC are deliberately repressing democracy. Or at least I believe and feel that I am seeing DNC and MSM deliberately repressing democracy. Had to stop watching the MSNBC cheerleaders. OK, done.

[Dragonfli]

10. You raise a very good point - also (If you can make your bills but are not well off) it is only

a matter of time until you join the ranks of the working poor, the Middle class is not only shrinking, I believe it is planned for erasure.

About the rage, things are progressing so rapidly now down a path repeated throughout history for centuries, that well, to put it frankly Sanders' attempt to bring back one of only two parties in a two party system as a party of the working class, the poor and those in need of equal civil liberties may likely be last chance this country has before things continue to worsen. If it fails we either end up as a Fascist nation (not hard to imagine if one observes the Republican party evolve in that direction) and the boot comes down so hard and so absolutely that all hope will be lost (but even then only for a time before a Revolution).

Or, we avoid fascism and instead of the peaceful political Revolution advocated for by Sanders, what will happen is what inevitably happens when there is only an extremely rich class (or aristocracy that write all the rules and are above the law) and a dirt poor majority not only desperate, but literally starving.

Then the Rage throughout history has boiled over into a blood-filled revolution. I hope the bloodless revolution works because history repeats the same way in EVERY other single instance of such wealth and justice disparity. Death, blood, and revolution. The only variable is that the "new boss" sometimes is better than the old, but most often is not.

[slipslidingaway]

12. And as resources become more scarce ... water, land it will only exacerbate ...

the plight of the poor.

[Dragonfli]

3. An addendum This OP will fall on deaf ears among those that are well to do, comfortable or otherwise

So far unharmed by the New economy that has left many that are not upper middle class Hurting (the majority IRL).
So I expect little response here, where most are fairly comfortable, or at least not living in hard times.

I just thought I would put it out them anyway, I have heard so much richsplainin' both here and among most of our politicians that something broke inside after I could take it no more, I did sent actual written letters to all the members of the DNC whose contact information included a mailing address specifically for them, and personalized the message accordingly by what I know of them. The same for DWS, and even her Highness. I expect the secret service will send some very well dressed goons to apply pressure in some form against me like the gorillas they can be. I sent a return address on every letter mailed.

For what it's worth.

[Metric System]

4. Hillary is winning the popular vote and the regular delegate count. Many of us believe Hillary is

the better option. Just because you believe Bernie is the better option doesn't make it a fact. It's an opinion. Don't confuse the two.

[Dragonfli]

5. You are obviously among the comfortable, others, believe her lies all to easily it appears

Her record and shows she will do nothing for those that continue to fall behind and will do much for those whose wealth has continued to grow even after, Her sponsors know how to butter her biscuit, and the rich do not care that she will likely lose a GE, some have as much as said they would be just as happy with her as they would be with a Republican.

You do make a good point however, lying and cheating often work on those whose only contact with reality is a media fed to them via cable by those that are contributors to her campaign and are puling out all the stops to help her lies go unchallenged and silence her opposition.

In a fair election she would already be behind, and eve in this election she is only ahead because so far mostly only the most Conservative leaning states are of course voting for the most Conservative candidate in their parties.

Such was expected of the Conservative states that still like how she helped Destroy the safety net that Conservatives have always hated, and put so many people in prison, the conservative states love as many in prison as possible, they are a demographic custom made for her.

Did you not read the post by the way?
You have not addressed a single point of the Op you are responding to, why is that, unless ypu wish to deflect from the OP itself and the truth therein?

[LuvLoogie]

7. The Revolution is asking for nuetrality

from life long Democrats to give equal footing with a life long Democrat to a life-long Independent--and only recently, for the purposes of running, Democrat--who often dismissed the Democratic party as no better than the Republican party.

And still, they dismiss the establishment Democrats who gave them the vehicle for their campaign.

[Dragonfli]

8. An independent that caucused with the Democrats

Caucused with the Democrats for, 16 years in the United States House of Representatives, 10 years in the United States Senate;

where he served on many committees Representing the Democratic party such as the:

Committee on the Budget (Ranking Member)
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on National Parks
Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Subcommittee on Children and Families
Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging (Ranking Member)
Committee on Veterans' Affairs (chairman)

He has every right to expect neutrality from those he served with such loyalty and in so many capacities.

Lieberman on the other hand, was more Republican than Democratic and received not only "neutrality" but endorsements for him as an Independent OVER A DEMOCRAT.
You have no point, no wait you do, a "false talking point".

[Jitter65]

11. I consider that those who worked with him know him best. And they prefer Hillary. eom.

[Dragonfli]

13. Or perhaps, the more likely scenario, they prefer the same corporate donor base they share

That and an enemies list kept by a person well known for being vindictive (and staying off it) can work wonders don't you think?

I wonder since they prefer her so much how many committees and subcommittees did they have her work on? Name them please.

[ismnotwasm]

24. All of them?

All 478 of them?

[Dragonfli]

43. You know as well as I that there are not 478 Committees in Congress, stop implying

She is so well liked by the Democrats she was on that many Committees and subcommittees (that do not exist in that number)
Just name the real ones please, the ones she was appointed to because the Democratic caucus liked her so much on her important flag burning and rap media banning legislation that she was most famous for in my state (NY).

Thanks in advance.

[JDPriestly]

57. They like her money, and they are scared of her because she is vindictive and vengefful.

[senz]

64. No. They FEAR Hillary.

As well they should.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/195188-hillarys-hit-list

[Dragonfli]

70. This is well known, if anyone is claiming ignorance of the Clintons' enemies list and of their

vindictiveness they are either playing coy or simply are so propagandized that they do not think with their own brains but rather the program that has replaced their thought processes.

[LuvLoogie]

29. Isn't this his first Democratic Convention ever?

[Lizzie Poppet]

36. And...?

[LuvLoogie]

37. He has never been elected as a Democrat. Ever.

And the first office he runs for, as a Democrat, is President of the United States.

It has been 10 months since he announced his candidacy. He entered into joint funding agreements, but he has yet to raise any money for state and local Democratic organizations. No down ticket support coming from Bernie's campaign. Hillary has raised about $22 million.

[Lizzie Poppet]

42. Thank you so very much for the substantive, civil answer!

I can't state strongly enough how happy that makes me, given how things have gotten around here.

That's a very fair point about down ticket financial support. I do, however, think Bernie helps the rest of the Democrats on the ballot significantly, even w/o monetary assistance. I think he would create a better turnout situation, overall. Yes, his candidacy might lower black voter turnout (although not enormously, given the encouraging boost to black political activism that BLM has engendered). However, it would raise young voter turnout to a larger degree, in my estimation.

In addition, Bernie as the nominee would prevent what I predict would be an enormous boost in far-right voter turnout (they hate Hillary with an absolutely terrifying passion*). I think the overall advantage from different turnout patterns more greatly favors the Democratic Party ticket with Bernie at the top of the ballot.

* So great is this hate that I would genuinely fear for her safety in office...but I've had that fear for Obama, too. If I were superstitious, I'd be knocking on wood so hard every day that I'd probably have bruised knuckles. Some of those people on the raving far right scare the crap out of me...they're unhinged.

[LuvLoogie]

46. Well, I will rhetorically poke people in the ribs from time to time,

but I try to not ever be abusive. After doing this a while, you get to realize that cutting to the chase, without abuse or personal ridicule, is more effective in communicating your opinions in the long run. Plus I make a point not to try and change anyones mind on who they are supporting. I mostly join in if If I see ad hoc or unsubstanciated attacks or hyperbole as it regards policies or people I support.

As to your points regarding Bernie's candidacy, I think these races will be won and lost on retail politics, i.e. targeted turnout, organization, communication. Yes, Barack was inspiring and drove enthusiasm, but so did Hillary when they ran in '08. Real people voted for her. She "won" in straight up popular vote. But she ultimately, whole-heartedly, got behinf Barack as he was clearly and legimately the nomination winner. His turnout was better targeted because his organization was better, and his campaign communicated better.

The GOP is currently a shit-show being won by who can fling the most shit. But now it looks as though some are getting their shit together to gang up on the guy who is the most full of shit. Bring a tarp and a hose for the general.

[JDPriestly]

66. For me, the most important issue this year is getting the huge donations, the big money

of the oligarchs OUT OF OUR ELECTIONS AND OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT.

Only Bernie represents my point of view on that issue.

No other candidate has dared to go it without the money of the billionaires.

That decides it for me.

Because Hillary is funding her campaign with what I consider to be dirty money (some of it apparently foreign), I will NEVER VOTE FOR HER.

So, if people want to continue this corrupt system in which horizontal and vertical monopolies dominate our economy, wages are kept low because Americans are forced to compete in the race to the bottom on wages and workplace safety with slave labor in underdeveloped countries, they may do that. But I will not help them.

I will no longer abet the crimes that free trade and the money of billionaires in our politics are committing.

[JDPriestly]

60. So we should support Hillary because she raises money for Democratic candidates

to Congress and for Debbie Wasserman Schulz so that they can sit in Congress and do nothing because they are in the minority because their policies are so unpopular that Democrats don't vote in large enough numbers in the off-year elections to elect a majority to Congress.

The Democratic Party we have now is not delivering what we the people want. That's why we want it reformed. That's why we want Bernie.

We are not happy with what is going on in Washington, D.C. We don't like the very machine politics that you are trying to sell to us.

Feel the Bern!

Right now, a lot of poorly informed voters are backing Hillary, and the rest of us who follow politics and current affairs are voting for change, for Bernie.

The Democrats in Congress need to get with the program of the Democratic voters, not the other way around.

The system is so rigged. And many of us now, using the information literally at our fingertips on the internet, are realizing just how extremely rigged it really is.

There is no way I am going to vote to continue this system as rigged as it is.

That's why I am voting for Bernie, and will vote for lower level Democrats on my ballot but will NEVER vote for Hillary.

That's why Vermont voted 86% for Bernie.

That's why the huge margins for Bernie in all the sentient and half-educated states like Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and many more to come.

That's why the states that vote for Hillary are Texas (was ready to secede a few years ago), S. Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, and many others that never vote Democratic anyway. I know Alabama very well. I'm not going to say what I think of it on the internet right now. But if the DLC leadership knew Alabama like I know it, they would make sure it voted last in the Democratic Primary.

Instead, they have frontloaded the nomination and primary process with conservative states like Alabama. That is meaningless. That holds our country back.

That's why states like Iowa and Massachusetts were so close.

Hillary is a lousy candidate and will make a lousy president. Educated, informed people know that.

Bernie is the real thing. He does not sell himself to corporate America because he is honest. We want Bernie for president and will not accept less.

Feel the Bern!

[LuvLoogie]

72. I won't she'd tears for DWS should she be deposed.

But as to who is voting for whom--you claim votes for Bernie are more valid than votes for Hillary. How do you quantify the relative informedness, intelligence and motivation of an individual. One person, one vote. This isn't a shareholders meeting. The citizen is the sovereign and his vote is his. Most people sit on it, or are disenfranchised by law. What law would YOU welcome, so that the relative validity of a Bernie voted is promoted over that of a Hillary voter? What values are quantified?

[JDPriestly]

73. Again, please provide a response with substance.

What is it about Hillary's proposals, her platform that you prefer to Bernie's?

Please discuss the issues.

[LuvLoogie]

86. I directly responded to your notion that a voter for Bernie

is more informed, substantive than a voter for Hillary. That Bernie votes are somehow more virtuous than Hillary votes. But you fail to quantify why a vote for Bernie should count more than a vote for Hillary. You made allusions to intelligence, education and informedness.

But rather than defend your seemingly elitist notion, you want an explanation for why I support Hillary. That's why you are so frustrated. You may remain frustrated because Hillary and Bernie are very similar when it comes to the issues in this election. They differ in their degree and in their plan to advance their position.

Bipartisan establishment lawmakers passed campaign finance reform. A stacked Supreme Court struck it down. The only way that The Revolution is going to reverse that is through further legislation and having control of the Whitehouse AND the judiciary committee.

[Lizzie Poppet]

19. Let me be blunt:

"Party first" people make me just shake my head. Personally, I give not a single fuck about branding. If a candidate's actions and statements are too-often opposed to my progressive views, I owe them no loyalty. The Democratic Party's transformation into what is effectively a center-right party might give it a competitive advantage against a GOP that has lost its mind and become a far-right cartoon...but it works against the political values I believe in.

[PWPippin]

32. Right on!

[LuvLoogie]

34. It's got nothing to do with branding.

It's about Solidarity.

[Lizzie Poppet]

35. It has everything to do with branding to some.

Solidarity? Sure...for the brand. Solidarity on progressive matters? Nope.

I care about the latter. The former? Not in the least. If that &quot Dem)" behind the name doesn't indicate strong support of liberal policies, then it's completely meaningless to me.

[LuvLoogie]

41. Solidarity on the ARRA turned around the Bush recession.

Solidarity on the ACA moved the ball way forward on Health Care Reform. (Republicans get to vote in Congress, too.) Ted Kennedy regretted the hard-line position he took with Nixon on health care. He realized it delayed progress (the root of Progressive) by 40 years.

So while you can take what you may call a Progressive position, that's all it is--a position. If you can't, won't or don't come up with a viable plan to ADVANCE that position, then you are just a cheerleader and not a player.

In politics, VOTES advance a position. Without the votes, you are pounding sand. Legislation is the vehicle that carries the position. The heavier the vehicle, the more gas (votes) you need. Your political opposition is friction and gravity.

Hillary is working for a Democratic majority in Congress. Bernie is talking about a Revolution.

[JDPriestly]

75. Bernie's Revolution is just another way of saying working for a Democratic majority in Congress.

"Hillary is working for a Democratic majority in Congress. Bernie is talking about a Revolution."

Right now, when we get a Democratic majority, we get nothing because the majority we get is elected with the money of the oligarchs, a select, very wealthy group, whose money gets them in the door in Congress.

I am not making this up. There are studies that prove that we ordinary voters with our modest incomes and inability to match the oligarchs in political donations, don't get the work done in Congress, the bills passed that we want even when Democrats are in the majority.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy

Those of us who are voting for Bernie are voting to change that reality.

The big money and its result -- corruption. That is what this election is about.

Hillary represents the corruption and big money.

Bernie represents clean politics and a movement toward more democracy.

Is it so hard to deny Americans our democracy?

This is the first time in my many years as a Democrat that I have really observed how the primary system for the presidential nomination is geared to insure the nomination of a conservative candidate within the Democratic Party.

And I am horrified. The Southern states that haven't voted Democratic (with a couple of exceptions) since 1976 vote first. We get a tiny sprinkle of liberal states -- but mostly then we get states like Kansas (which voted with a huge margin for Bernie) and Nebraska (hasn't voted for a Democratic president since 1964), etc.

It's fixed. It's rigged.

And as Bernie says, "Enough is enough."

When Bernie speaks to crowds, they tell him what the average donation is to his campaign? "$27." It is a rallying cry as is "enough is enough."

We are sick of the phony, paid-for, entertainment politics that both parties and the media present.

The politicians in both parties are playing with our lives, with the lives of our sons and daughters. Why in the world did we go into Iraq? And why did Hillary vote for that?

I watched a video of the Code Pink ladies trying to persuade Hillary not to vote for the IWR. They were persuasive. Some of them had visited Iraq and told Hillary of what they had seen there. Hillary coldly turned on them. I saw in that video who Hillary really is. And I don't want any part in it.

And I want campaign finance reform. For me that is the big issue. It is the Republicans who most benefit from our current campaign finance policies. How any Democrat especially one who claims utter loyalty to the Democratic Party can possibly support our current corrupt campaign financing system is incomprehensible to me.

Please explain how anyone can justify the campaign finance system and a vote for Hillary who is running on the fuel of that system when it so favors the Republicans if that anyone is a true Democrat.

That makes no sense to me. Please explain.

[Dragonfli]

79. Well argued, I agree with your assessment /nt

[LuvLoogie]

88. Do you see any irony in that the Citizens United case arose from whether

an anti-Hillary movie's financing violated campaign finance law and whether the law was constitutional? Did hillary Clinton strike down the law? The GOP wants no limits to individual campaign contributions. They've got the votes right now, but Barack has the veto.

[JDPriestly]

89. Yes. I do see the irony.

It's sad that she has not fought against Citizens United by refusing big donations and corporate and oligarchy donations.

Very sad.

Democrats should have made campaign finance the first order of the day way back in 2008 and 2012 and in the years in which they had the majority in the Senate and House. As I understand it, the Citizens United decision does not entirely shut the door on full disclosure of political donations. Democrats could have started there and somehow at least required fuller information on who pays for the ads we read and see on TV. Of course, a conservative Court could have come a long and "clarified" Citizens United to prevent the requirement of disclosure.

I think we need a federal law on corporations that limits their activities. Same for all other types of business organizations -- LLCs, partnerships, etc. Their purposes and activities should be limited, and they should not be allowed to endorse candidates in elections under any circumstances. Issue ads, issue speech, fine as long as the organization funding the ads or speech identifies itself. I am suggesting that be included in a federal law on corporations that preempts state laws on the subject. If states want to impose even more stringent limitations than the federal law, fine. But we have fallen victim to the race to the bottom in the field of state corporate law.

[LuvLoogie]

90. McCain Feingold attempted much of what you suggest, but you have to have the votes.

You can't blame Hillary for the rules as they are. Thankfully there were pro-Obama superpacs during the "08 and '12 general elections as well. You can't stem the tide and reverse the field if you aren't in the game.

[JDPriestly]

91. Sanders is trying. And that is one of the main reasons that I support him.

Did you catch this in the debate tonight?

Hillary seemed to know the woman who asked her whether she prayed.

The woman described in detail how she prayed in her church for our country's leaders, and Hillary responded that she had attended that woman's church

What was that about?

Did I hear wrong?

My husband heard what I heard as did several DUers. We wonder who selected that woman to ask a question and why and whether there was some collusion with the candidates in selecting people to ask questions.

That seemed very odd to me.

The debate at that moment seemed very rigged.

As you probably know, the Constitution prohibits applying a religious test for any government office.

CNN was utterly out of place with allowing such a question in the debate.

Especially if it was a set-up to make Hillary's claim to be a Christian deliver points for her as opposed to Bernie's Jewish background.

Shame on CNN. That's why we want money and such tricks out of politics.

[LuvLoogie]

92. I don't have cable TV. Just a tuner card on my PC for over the air local broadcasts.

And my computer was occupied by my daughters' streaming Netflicks, so no live streaming. I did not see the exchange of which you speak.

I know Hillary attended a church in Flint this past week. Maybe she recognized the pastor from that church. It could have been at this meeting.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/02/hillary_clinton_will_hear_firs.html

The debate was in Flint afterall, so it could very well be a concidence. Hillary meets and remembers a lot of people. She is a gregarious politician and policy wonk.

[JDPriestly]

67. I disagree. Sorry, but for me, it's about corruption.

Is solidarity just a euphemism for a lot of pay-offs and corruption?

In my opinion, most certainly when the solidarity is with big billionaire donors and corporations that want favors from the politicians they fund. That is the case with Hillary.

Whether she gives back to those who give to her I don't know. But the appearance of corruption in her campaign funding is so great that I have to assume there is corruption.

And the support she receives from so many in Congress?

In my view, also influenced if not directly caused by her corruption.

People are voting in droves for Bernie (like me) and yes, even Trump (people who vote for him are fooled by his statements that he is funding his own campaign) in great part because we are tired of the excessive influence of the wealthy, the oligarchs, in our political circles.

This corruption makes a joke of our so-called democracy. And then this corruption thrives on wars -- killing people for money and "free" trade that has cost out economy dearly and is allowing the destruction of the environment -- on distant shores far from the cameras and research of our journalists and scientists.

Every one of the huge, unpunished crimes by those who are destroying our environment and killing in wars is the result of corruption and very often of corruption in our government.

And in this primary process, we are seeing so many loyal Democrats hang on to that corruption. And it is very sad.

The environment will not wait until party loyalists finally realize that the corruption will mean no place is safe for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Campaign finance is THE ISSUE because it is the key to solving other problems like the environmental crisis, trade, access to healthcare, education for the most talented and best students, etc.

And the Democratic Party operates on a corrupt campaign finance system.

Bernie wants to change that.

Hillary is using it to her advantage.

Feel the Bern!

[840high]

82. Spot on.

[JDPriestly]

54. So you would prefer that we who like Bernie go off and form our own party and vote for it?

We are lifelong Democrats (me) or people who have been left out because the Democratic Party swung to far to the right. We are people who never voted.

But it's your party and you are disinviting us?

Or are you just talking on behalf of what you think the Party bigwigs think and not for yourself?

Are you being sarcastic or speaking frankly?

[LuvLoogie]

69. I think you will have your answer after the convention

when, if after Hillary wins the nomination, Bernie either remains a Democrat or goes back to being an Independent. What you do is up to you.

[JDPriestly]

71. And how will you Democrats do without the Bernie supporters?

I still have not read why you prefer Hillary to Bernie?

I am asking for a post with substance, not just decrying the disloyalty to the party brand and its corrupt campaign finance system.

What about Hillary's proposals do you prefer to those of Bernie's?

What do you like better about a $12 minimum wage rather than a $15 minimum wage.

What do you like better about a no-fly zone in Syria than trying to find a peaceful settlement and allowing people from the Middle East to fight their own battles?

What do you prefer about Hillary's environmental proposals?

What do you like about having a for-profit health insurance system that leaves millions without insurance often when they most need it, that is when they cannot find work or are very sick?

What do you like about the role of the billionaires in Hillary's campaign finance structure?

What do you like about H1-B visas?

What do you like about Hillary's accepting money that is bundled by lobbyists for the prisons and possibly companies that don't pay their fair share of taxes in America?

What do you like about Hillary's education polices?

What do you especially like about any other policies that Hillary is proposing?

Let's talk policy and not just paybacks and party loyalty.

I admire a man who goes it on his own, who gets elected without the support of a corrupt machine.

I admire that aspect of Teddy Roosevelt's history. He spoke out against the corruption. Bernie is to me a present-day representative of that proud tradition of clean politics. Teddy fought the corruption in his party, in the New York police department, the corruption Tamany Hall. Bernie is fighting the corruption in the Democratic Party. His policies are in harmony with the legacy of FDR. But Bernie is clean in terms of his campaign financing.

Wow! To have the chance to vote for Bernie and then blow it out of some sort of adoration of the corruption of the other candidate????

Where does that decision come from?

[hack89]

80. It is out of our hands so we don't worry about it

since there is apparently nothing we can do to get you to vote for anyone but Bernie we will simply leave you be. What do you wat from us anyway?

[JDPriestly]

52. Why do you think Hillary is the better option?

Can you please explain that to me. I have asked that question so many times and received only one coherent (but unsatisfactory to me) response.

People like Hillary but never seem able to explain why on DU.

What is it about Hillary's proposals that you prefer to those of Bernie?

I can tell you exactly why I think Bernie is better, but first I want to know why you think Hillary is better.

[JDPriestly]

77. Hillary is relying on the corrupt campaign system to run her campaign.

Bernie is not. I believe that we cannot get justice for the American people and especially for minorities as long as we have our current campaign finance system.

As long as the Republican oligarchs can get racists and haters elected by funding campaigns that appeal to them with the goal (which they often achieve now that unions are virtually nonexistent in this country) of owning Congress so that they can get anti-union, anti-environmental, anti-intellectual, anti-poor, anti-everything-that-is-good-for-the-country-as-a-whole and bad for their pocketbooks, then the Democratic Party is unable to work for us.

We can elect all the Democratic heroes we can think of with our tiny, well informed voter group, but until we get the money out of politics, Southerners will continue to eat the Limbaugh and other similar propaganda that is paid for by the oligarchs and we will have to struggle to get wages that are at all livable while they live high on the hog and control the world, making the environment unlivable for human kind.

No. I will not vote for Hillary. I will vote for the California Democrats on my ballot, but never, ever for Hillary. We have some really good Democrats in California.

Unfortunately we do not get to pick our 546, yes, 546 delegates to the Democratic convention until June 7.

Don't tell me about Hillary's success in getting votes until we have a primary system that lets everyone vote on the same day. What is this with the Republican, conservative, Southern states voting before the states that are reliably Democratic?

Some of the Southern states that Hillary won have not voted for a Democratic president since 1976. Some voted for Democrats in 1992 and/or 1996. They thought Bill was a Southerner.

Nebraska has not voted for a Democratic president since 1964.

Why not first ask Democrats who they want for the nominee?

Why do the large, real Democratic states vote so late?

It's corruption. That's my view. Hillary more and more represents corruption to me.

[Punkingal]

6. K&R

[amborin]

14. K&R

[raouldukelives]

15. K&R We live in the most reality shareholders will alllow in their own name.

A carefully scripted and sanitized reality to serve only the interests of multi-national corporations and their legion of owners first and foremost.

The first step is removing the blinders, the second is to stop blinding others.

[ismnotwasm]

16. "Poorslainin"

Really.

[Dragonfli]

40. Yes, the well to do constantly tell me how well I am doing in our recovery and how lucky I am

Even if I am poor as hell and don't live well off as they do.

I have called it Richsplainin' for years, this is simply my counter to their condescension towards me and the majority of Americans that ain't feelin' it.

Keepin' it real as my dad would say.

[Broward]

17. Yet, somehow many of the poor and downtrodden are still backing Hillary.

Yes, you can fool some of the people all of the time.

[Armstead]

18. You are great -- I love your posts because they explain the reality without the bullshit

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. How is the DNC tipping the scale?

An open letter to Hillary and any DNC members tipping the scale for HRC from a common non-elite man

How is the DNC tipping the scale?


By allowing people to vote?

[stevenleser]

22. Exactly. A 200 pledged delegate lead after 1100 pledged delegates allocated

This meme has been debunked by the voters.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. And a 61%-39% lead in the popular vote!!!

[ismnotwasm]

23. Excellent question.

[stevenleser]

21. With a 200 delegate lead given by grassroots this is no longer a viable topic. nt

[peacebird]

28. Wrong. It is a valid topic right up until the convention. Where hopefully Bernie will be our nominee

[Dragonfli]

38. I must admit that this take on the topic of Hillary Clinton although not about the DLC doublespeak

That has sold a false brand and tipped the scales. With the help of the MSM in order to package a bad product in false packaging as my OP speaks to (much like sawdust that lacks nutrition being sold as food in the form of parmesan cheese) so that they will choose to buy it and starve.

I find this Article to be more informative of her personally and politically and gets more to the nuts and bolts of the person herself

In fact, the documents released today show a meeting that Hillary chaired at the White House on November 10, 1993 where she promoted the passage of NAFTA to 120 people. Reports are coming out in every news agency pointing out the contradictions between her stated positions since announcing her bid for the Presidency and everything before that.

One of the things you would expect of someone who really has good experience and judgment is that they can articulate a basic set of principles and positions on issues that they can run on and defend and that stay relatively static. I'm not saying you have to stick to them in the face of overwhelming evidence that one of your positions has been proven to be wrong, like George W. Bush does, even someone who has good experience and judgment occasionally changes their mind. That is not what we have with Hillary. Hillary gives a different opinion on the same subjects every couple of weeks depending on her audience and what she thinks it will net her. As evidence of this is now coming out and is going to be presented to the American people in the starkest terms, how can one be expected to trust her to do anything that she says she is going to do? How can one really know what she believes or intends to do about anything? The only things Hillary's experience seems to be good for is perfecting how to talk out of both sides of her mouth, engaging in the politics of personal destruction and other aspects of her ruthless pursuit of power that remind one of what a Karl Rove might do. That kind of person ought not to be the Democratic nominee

IT IS STILL IN MY FAVORITES, please follow it to the source

[hack89]

81. If Bernie's supporters don't start voting he is not going to win. Nt

[peacebird]

26. Fantastic post! Thank you!

[Dragonfli]

39. A logo that goes well with yours as a gift, should you choose to alternate!

Although I must admit I absolutely love the Golden Handcuffs!

[Ichingcarpenter]

27. K&R

[Paper Roses]

30. Well said, thank you! n/t

[warrprayer]

31. OMG

This should be spread far and wide.
Thanks so much for putting it into words.

[riderinthestorm]

33. The real effects of poverty must continue to be a talking point

Especially this election where it increasingly looks like the race will be between the corporatist Dem who will never prioritize your needs, and the billionaire buffoon Repub who doesn't even want to know poor people exist

I hear you loud and clear. Keep shouting your truth.

Great OP!

[Octafish]

44. You don't solve the poor's problems by giving money to the rich.

The policies since Reagan have pretty much done that, and nothing but that, including all the wars abroad and at home.

And continuing down the pro-corporatist path will not change that. It will only accomplish turning what remains of the middle class into the new poor.

Thank you for a great OP and thread, Dragonfli. Feudalism is un-democratic.

[Dragonfli]

45. "Feudalism is un-democratic."

Indeed it is
it also tends to piss off the serfs such as myself as a by-product.

[Octafish]

50. 1776

Democracy trumped Aristocracy.

Been a real battle royal keeping it ever since.

[Dragonfli]

61. Like the man said "If we can keep it" /nt

[cantbeserious]

51. Now Now - We Can Never Speak Of Corporate Socialism - Shsss .... - Must Keep That A Secret

eom

[MaggieD]

47. Oh please - she's beating the crap out of him in the popular vote

The DNC didn't make that happen. We, the people, are doing that.

[Dragonfli]

55. Sure they did, first by making sure nobody knew him in the beginning by disallowing debates

(unless there were very few and a good game was on for people to watch instead). Then by defying the president himself and changing the rules to allow dark PAC money into the DNC that was then (a great deal of it anyway) funneled to her campaign.

Also by choosing it's share of super-delegates would vote the right way (or it would be a shame if something bad were to happen to such a nice future campaign you have there). They were not alone, the money the PACS the DLC brought in, placed deceptive ads in the primary (even if Clinton did lie and say the PAC money would only be spent on the GE).

The MSM counting super-delegates as votes before they actually vote at the convention didn't hurt the tipping of the scales much either since we have been told time and again those don't matter until the convention where they are supposed to change to reflect the popular votes of the states (thus giving the impression that Sanders can't win to discourage voter turnout.)

By the way, it may not work, in spite of the wide spread cheating, because one needs well over 2000 pledged delegates to win the primary and Hillary is only up by a 200 and small change. Remember, most of the states that love conservatives (meaning Hillary) have already voted).

The DLC has had their collective finger on the scale the entire time, including the rest of the big money fueled Party machine, and everyone knows it, denying it only makes you kook foolish.

Something you didn't consider, once the liberal States (the ones with the gigantic populations vote) you corporate purchased team may try to play the cheat using the super-delegates to vote against the popular votes of the states routine, I recommend not doing that, it would destroy the party and may bring back memories of 1968 more vividly than you may like.

[Hiraeth]

48. and from a common non-elite woman: I want my whole damn dollar !!!

take everything you just said and try doing it on 78 cents to your dollar.

[Dragonfli]

56. You have earned via the sweat of your brow that whole damned dollar and deserve it!

I as a Berner will damn sure do my best to make sure you get it to! (as will the rest of our rag tag but powerful revolution.

[Hiraeth]

59. together we stand. divided we fall. -Lincoln was a common man.

[Dragonfli]

62. Together we stand divided we fall is the politics of unity and yes love for all without need of

reciprocity.



Bernie is the campaign of standing together

There is another that would divide us in order to conquer.

[Waiting For Everyman]

49. A strong middle class is inconvenient for the oligarchy

and so they are trying to eliminate it.

The masses stay off the oligarchs' backs when they are busy struggling to survive. And secondly, the oligarchs are always seeking ways to get zero-cost labor or as close to it as possible (via wage depression, right to work, outsourcing, alien labor, private prisons etc.) now that slavery is illegal and women are no longer unpaid labor at home. Next on the agenda, confiscating others' property and savings, as we saw during the crash.

That is what they do, and who they are. Those who would promote that agenda are hoping to become them, so they are much the same.

The only thing the rest of us have going for us is numbers. To turn this around, we'll have to harness those numbers. If we lose this time though, I'm afraid we will be set back even more before getting another chance to go forward. We're constantly losing ground on this problem as long as we're not advancing... like being on a backward "people mover" at the airport.

We need Sanders, and we need him now.

Thanks for a wonderful post, Dragonfli.

[Dragonfli]

58. Yes, we have the numbers, and will have even more if we lose this time around, no one gets out alive

Life ends for everyone, but the struggle continues as many generations as it takes.
Someday we will win, I am hoping it is within the next ten years after Bernie wins and helps us get our numbers off the ground!


Remember! We got the Numbers!

[CentralMass]

53. Righteous Rant.

[senz]

63. Someone should read this at the Democratic convention.

Thank you for expressing it so perfectly, Dragonfli.

This piece must not remain here. It must be given wings. This I know: people NEED to hear their deepest feelings expressed in words.

(But I had you pegged as a very calm, low-key, soft-spoken woman. The Internet is rife with surprises.)

[Dragonfli]

68. Perhaps someone will read it at the Democratic convention.

I did send out several copies to several members of the DNC, in written form, slightly personalized according to what I knew (if anything) about each recipient.

Including Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton (I expect some reaction from the Secret Service regarding that last bit of correspondence, or worse yet attention from a private firm like Blackwater (or is it Xe these days? hard to keep track)).

Perhaps I should send a letter to that courageous veteran that quite the DNC recently to endorse Bernie. And perhaps some of them at the DNC aren't corrupt and actually do represent the average person that lacks the wealth and the voice it brings.

Don't sweat thinking me a woman, if anything it is a complement, the most peace loving and intelligent person I have ever known was my late wife Kim, and after all, my little Dragonfli logo that I created is rather "pretty" if I do say so myself.

For the life of me however, I do not get how you pegged me as low-key and soft spoken, some of my criticisms have been quite scathing. LOL.

[senz]

74. Thanks.

I hope you won't receive negative feedback, or worse, for sending your letter to DNC types. I do believe that you would stand a much better chance of getting your letter circulated -- and possibly read at the Dem convention -- by sending it to friendly recipients. The opposition will do what they can to hide and suppress it because they don't want Democrats to see it.

I hope you sent it to the Bernie campaign.

You mentioned Tulsi Gabbard. She has a nice web page, but the only contact information I was able to find (in a very quick search) is on a webpage that says it's down for maintenance (?). Here is the information I was able to glean:

Site Under Maintenance

The Office of: HONORABLE TULSI GABBARD

District Office Information:

300 Ala Moana Blvd.
5-104 Prince Kuhio Bldg.
Honolulu, HI 96850
[phone]

Washington DC Room Number: 1609 LongWorth House Office Building

Washington DC Phone Number: 202-225-4906

I also found an email form here: https://forms.house.gov/formsgabbard/webforms/email-me.shtml

I think your best bet is the Hawaii address. Might be good to check it all out before proceeding.

I'm very sorry about the loss of your wife, who sounds like a wonderful person. I suspect she'd be proud of you for what you've written here.

[Dragonfli]

78. Thank you for the encouragement, I do believe a written letter is best and could only find some

mailing information regarding DNC members, I couldn't even find what I believe is a complete list of the DNC membership, but I did the best I could. I will relentlessly hunt down Tulsi Gabbard's mailing address as well as send a letter to the one provided that is lkely no longer valid but rather her DNC address (obviously I will seek her office address, I would not look for someones home address), I believe it can be done via phone or email request (if I can find an email address) with an explanation as to what I wish to send.

Thank you for your condolences regarding my wife (gone ten years now), I know she would approve of what I am doing (perhaps even to the point of pride in me) as we protested against Bush's illegal war together as well as other such activities going back thirty years.

She drew this as an expression of the world that Bush, Clinton and all the other neocons were invoking, doing it in her own special way, She was an artist and saw issues as images. I think she captured the essence of the neocon machine and the future it promised us even if flat sketching and pencil & ink work was not her usual medium, she drew this while we were protesting the War (the un-televised bit, before it became more popular)

[senz]

65. Kick!

Everyone must read this.

[840high]

83. another kick

[dana_b]

76. love it! K&R!!

[Dragonfli]

84. One final kick for the afternoon crowd /nt

[felix_numinous]

85. K&R

The 'inevitability' meme was the most insulting, as if we are worth nothing compared with all that (blood) money. We are supposed to just shut up and go back to flipping burgers and watching our infrastructure decay to dangerous levels all around us, while the insiders continue taking care of their best interests. I think their time is up, and if it doesn't materialize in this election (I think it will) their crimes are now in the bright spotlight, and people are united and awake. Tick tock.

[Dragonfli]

87. Many are still sleeping, but the awakening has begun!

In their somnolence many are only dimly aware of lies and propaganda as told by the corporate owned media and thus some support a candidate that openly and habitually lies to them in order to continue serving her masters that have already made her a multimillionaire by doing their bidding at our expense.

However some dreamers have awakened! Many no longer follow the mcpravda media and are seeing with their own newly opened eyes as their lives and livelihoods fall apart all around them while the billionaires capture all the wealth created by the work and effort of those that see themselves falling either from middle class into the working poor, or from the poor to the desperately impoverished while witnessing the once solid safety nets put into place to keep them safe and fed , free from the horrid conditions of more Dickensian times being ripped to shreds little by little before their eyes with both parties complicit in their destruction.

One need look no farther than a Republican stump speech or the more cleverly hidden common goals of the Democrats that have become Vichy collaborators that hide their plans in the open to destroy those safeguards against complete hopelessness by perusing the chapters of the PPI or Third Way sites where they scheme with the (john Birch Society Transformed) Republican party to not only recreate the gilded age (which they have already done).

But to surpass it via the now global neo-liberalism and it's trade deals to the bottom, it's austerity, it's privatization of all the nations commons, it's near enslavement of all the worlds workers, and it's desired complete destruction of any semblance of a middle class. In an insane attempt to create the wealthiest class ever, which will create the poorest population conceivable.

The new generations are fully awake however and are beginning to feel their power and the power of unity that will in time destroy the depravities and horrors of completely unchecked Capitalism via revolution. The question becomes when and how at this point, the people united win!!! Once after a depression a man and his political revolution saved us from the very same plan at this very same stage, by mixing Socialism with Capitalism and regulating it and thereby defanging the beast of it's venom.

His name was Franklin D. Roosevelt. WE that are awake, those that are awakening, and those of a younger generation not polluted by propaganda must either unite again in a similar political revolution, or else they WILL succeed with their Dickensian utopia until such a time as a different sort of Revolution occurs - one involving a great deal of blood, death, and in the end a victor that may or may not be any better than the ruling elite that it defeats, that is if it defeats it at all the first go around

For the sake of us all, I hope we make the better choice for all of humanity as this is history folks and history almost always ends up with the bloody revolution. However unlike in the past, we are facing an Extinction level event that threatens many of the lifeforms on the planet including humanity itself and so we lack the luxury of time and blood soaked streets and the turmoil that follows such ever recurring events before things settle and we begin to repair the damage being done to the biosphere that supports us.

Not to be an alarmist, but the alarm has already sounded and we not only need to fight and win a political revolution and defeat the plutocrats, we must restore balance and sanity again, but we must do so quickly.

We must unite as well and stop being divided by minor differences within our species such as race (in truth there is only one human race regardless of melanin content or shape of eye and we need to wake up from that right away if we are to survive) we must also unify the different sexes an sexualities and do that quickly.

There is no more time to play history's games of the wealthy siphoning everything until a revolution occurs, or the games of racism, sexism, or any other isms.

For time is too short and not only must the quality of life of the struggling and ever more impoverished masses be resolved, but unity must happen or not only will the impoverished grow hungry, but the entire human race will cease to exist.

We have run out of time to play the DNC and RNC games and fully awaken not only to live well, but to live at all.
The Younger generation has begun to glean this and so must we all, and pathetically such grand goals with such high stakes must begin by winning a simple yet difficult to win political revolution happening in this very election. Made so unnecessarily difficult by pure, short sighted ridiculous greed of people like the Clintons , their third way and the Republicans.


Let us all awaken now!!!!

[Ken Burch]

93. Bernie is the only candidate in the Dem primary who cares about the poor.

You either stand with the streets, or the suites.

[Dragonfli]

94. He is the only politician in national politics that cares about the poor, or even mentions them /nt