On The Eve Of Destruction...

I hardly know where to begin. I feel like the country just threw its best hope in the trash. I want to write about it, but every time I try my teeth grind. 

Just remember, DNC, you had a generation of Progressivism on your doormat knocking. 

You closed the polling places. You failed to count the ballots. You purged the voter rolls. You changed the rules by chicanery, and you wrote the emails. 

You don't deserve the likes of Bernie Sanders. That man has more class in one hair on his head than you do in your entire party. 

Enjoy the karma.

Dan 

Tough Love For Berners, Or A New Movement Rising?

What do you expect Bernie to do, wave a magic wand and negate the current primary results in the blink of an eye? Levitate while summoning Hillary in a pentagram made of organic tofu while pixie sprites tickle her into peeing herself on national TV? 

It is going to take long, hard, sustained work to break the control of massive corporations that own everything from news outlets to voting machines. 

Hell, there were still 1.3 million CA ballots left to count as of yesterday. We need to do the ground game work that has been left untouched for the past 40 years!! 

I was an elected Dem precinct rep in IL for two terms, and boy did I ever get an education. HALF the damn precincts had NO ONE to fill them because everyone was too busy forming a thousand little organizations that never did anything but hold meetings. 

A bunch of local offices went to Republicans unopposed because we couldn't find anyone to run for them, and the Republicans ALWAYS could. 

Our main job was to get petition signatures to get Dem candidates names on the ballot for the races where we actually could find candidates to run, because in IL, you can't pay to get on the ballot. You either have enough petition signatures, or you'd best change your name to Blank, because that's what would be on the ballot. 

The DEMOCRATIC voters would be acting like we were beggars asking for crumbs when we knocked on their doors looking for signatures. You'd think we were trying to sell them nuclear waste pills! 

Bernie is exactly effing right! If you want a government that works for you, get out there and BECOME THAT GOVERNMENT, and treat well those that make the effort to do so! 

#StillSanders, dammit!

In a self-governing nation, #YouGetTheGovernmentYouAre. It's long past due that Progressives dive whole-heartedly into #CivilService. (Notice that the first results that come up are in the UK, not the USA?)

Ok, so I'm down off my soap box. I love you Bernie Brigade people. You're my people. Really and truly. All of the above is historical now. I believe over 11,000 people around the country have responded to Bernie's call since last night's live-stream address.  I only wish it were a couple of million of us.

Finally we are getting to the local-level involvement in government that will shift the ground under the feet of the political establishment in an organized fashion.

We have a LOT of catching up to do. The Republicans have been at it for 30 years or more, maybe 40. This is why they have been able to drag the country so far to the right. 

The good news is that a lot of people agree with us. We can do this. We must do this.

Bern on,

Dan

Bernie Sanders calls for American Progressives to step up for Civil Service

Trying To Peer Into A Crystal Ball; Why I Am #StillSanders

I'm still a little bit hopeful that with California starting to flip, Bernie may yet stand a chance at the convention, and so are a lot of Berners.

Some things to consider:

• Bernie only needs to pull HALF of the Stated difference in pledged delegates away from Hillary in the upcoming State conventions and California count completion in order to take the lead in pledged delegates. I think he needs to flip 193 or so, as at this point, every delegate he adds comes off Hillary's total.
• I saw an infographic earlier showing that as of yesterday, 15 CA counties have flipped to Sanders. However, not by yuuuge margins. these are mostly smaller counties. The big, heavily-populated counties will take longer.
• As of today, there are still 1.3+ million ballots un-counted. Source: http://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2016-primary/unprocessed-ballots-report.pdf
• Polling Sanders vs. Trump is still waaay better than Clinton vs. Trump
• Poll-after-online-poll is showing that Bernie voters STILL will not vote for Clinton, much less work to get her elected like they were doing for Bernie. They're not scientific polls, but I can tell you that a large segment of Sanders voters will not vote for or back Hillary.
• All of these points may be weighing heavily on any "super delegates" that have any loyalty left to the ideals of the USA, if such persons exist.

As for the FBI investigation and the leaks by hackers, Wikileaks, and Anonymous, I will only credit those as factors should they actually happen prior to the Democratic national convention.

As for what may happen after the Dem convention - and I think this is an important point - I have seen posts online stating that Bernie's campaign has been doing the legwork necessary to put his name on the ballot in all 50 States already, just in case he decides that he needs to run as an independent for one reason or another. I think of this differently than I think the vast majority of Bernie supporters are. What if this is Bernie's insurance policy in the event that Hillary is indicted or otherwise hyper-damaged to the point of non-viability post convention? If Hillary tanks so badly that it looks like Trump will actually get elected, Bernie could put his name on the ballot in 50 States, and the DNC could then back Bernie as a Democratic-leaning independent candidate, which would pull in a large number of Green and independent voters.

Still, with all of the above stated, my hopes aren't too high for the 2016 Presidential election in the US.

Which is where I turn to an absolutely brilliant move on Bernie's part just this evening:

Bernie Sanders National Live Stream Address 06-16-2016:




While Bernie didn't concede, he also gave his supporters a new direction to channel their energy now that the last primary in DC is over; Working to strengthen the political revolution down-ballot. He is asking his supporters to work hard on down-ballot races and State and local races. He has set up a page on his website ( http://www.berniesanders.com/win ) to help organize exactly that effort.

Also, when I donated on his website just today, this happened:

"NOTE: Your contribution will be divided evenly between Bernie Sanders, Russ Feingold, Tim Canova, Zephyr Teachout, Lucy Flores, Pramila Jayapal, Carol Ammons, Justin Bamberg, Terry Alexander, David Bowen, Joe Salazar, Clara Hart, Jane Kim, Chris Pearson, Eric Kingson, Paul Clements, Tulsi Gabbard, Raul Grijalva, Jeff Merkley, Marcy Kaptur, and Rick Nolan."

This was the response I received when I completed the donation on the Act Blue website.
As I've been thinking, Bernie needs to put his fundraising prowess behind down-ballot Berniecrats.
I have to wonder, just how many election races can these election fraudsters manage to keep up with and rig?

Bernie has given the Berner Brigade something constructive to do, that will help them remain cohesive and focused on the true goal - enacting progressive policy around the country. That is an excellent way to maintain a movement, and strain the Oligarcs.

This is FAR from over.

Dan

Berning On The Eve Of The California Primary...

I have to write this, as my heart is kind of full right now.

I spent two & 1/2 hours this evening phonebanking for the Bernie Sanders campaign at one of the local campaign headquarters. The setting was interesting enough in and of itself. It turns out that the national campaign has been renting vacant houses for their volunteers to stay in - and paying the campaign staffers' travel and living expenses too. This not only gives the campaign volunteers room and board for their trips, it also helps out folk who are trying to rent out vacant houses - local landlords or people who had to move for work and haven't sold their houses yet. That rent money may well be preventing a forclosure and a black mark on someone's credit score. It's certainly good for the local economy.

The volunteers are young folk who have been driving from State to State working for the candidate of their - and our - lifetimes. One young gal was 17 years old, and from Maryland. She is one month and nine days too young to vote in the November general election. So she is doing the only thing she can - volunteering for Bernie's campaign.

These young folk volunteering for the campaign are filling in the gaps that us older folk can't get away from work so much to do. There were several people my age and older also there, volunteering to phonebank. I'm 54, by the way.

I have been to two debate watch parties and one "last bash before the Primary" party. The folk FILLING the restaurant where these events were to capacity were of all ages, both sexes, and every race. It was an extremely diverse crowd.

Speaking of volunteering, I have been to phonebanking events organized completely outside the campaign by local non-affiliated volunteers. They've been using their own equipment at local coffee shops like Starbucks, local restaurants and the like. The comraderie, good will, and hope are amazing. The energy at these events is like none other; It is so positive and uplifting that you can't help walking away knowing that the world is a better place than you ever thought it was.

I spent three years as an elected Democratic Precinct Committeeman in Illionis before moving to California. I was volunteer I.T. and web support for the county party organization where I lived. I was directly involved in that office and technical suport for the county party in Obama's home State during his second run for office. I have NEVER seen volunteerism like what Bernie Sanders campaign is receiving from un-solicited members of the general population. I have never seen a candidate with the honesty and clear-cut Progressive record of one Bernard Sanders in my lifetime.

As to the calls I was making, most of them where I was able to speak to someone were very positive. This, in a heavily-Republican part of California. I got a couple of Hillary supporters who were civil, and one poll worker who was not happy with me, and a lot of voice mail messages.

I left polite messages reminding folk that tomorrow is the California primary, and asking them to come out and vote for Bernie tomorrow. One gal had a full inbox, but her voicemail greeting said it was OK to text her, so I did. I received a text back from her later that evening, thanking me for volunteering for the campaign, and saying that she had already voted for Bernie by mail. I also received a phone call back a little later from another gal I had left a voice message for, with essentially the same message.

In fact, almost every person I reached and actually spoke to in some form had already voted for Bernie by mail. By the way - my wife and I did the same, and when we were pulling up to the big blue mailbox at the post office, so was the gal in the car ahead of us.

One can only hope that the rest of the ones I left messages for had done the same.

When I got home afterward, I found this hanging from my door handle:



Yeah. You can feel the bern in Cali, alright.

Dan

Bern, The Movie

How Daily Kos Lost My Trust After Eleven Years...

I saw a couple of VERY anti-Bernie Sanders opinion pieces on the site. Reading them made it fairly clear to me that they were hit pieces on Bernie by supporters of Hillary Clinton. Fair enough. I decided to give them a taste of their own medicine, and wrote this piece on Dail Kos:

What Clinton Campaign Would Never Admit; Trolls Writing Bernie Hit Pieces All Over The Web...

The dawn of a renewed America being shot at by corporate hacks...

...including right here on Daily Kos. “Sanders campaign admits it wants to hurt Clinton, even if that means helping Trump”, “Sanders supporters and white entitlement”, and their ilk.
*If telling the truth about Hillary Clinton (As defined by what the Sanders Presidential Campaign puts out in its official campaign messaging, that is historically factual, and NOT just something spouted by a random Bernie supporter.) hurts her Presidential campaign, then she deserves to lose, and has no business anywhere near the Presidency of the United States of America.*
No candidate who can be harmed by the telling of the actual and factual record of their words and actions — especially while in public office — deserves to be in office. It is that simple.

• We the People have had enough of being run over at every turn by large corporations and the wealthy few who actually control them.
• We the People have had enough of wars fought to enrich certain corporations who either provide the weaponry that is used in all sides of such conflicts, or who profit off the natural resources brought under their control by those conflicts.
• We the People have had enough of our national infrastructure needs being ignored so that our military can be used as a tool to enact these types of wars.
• We the People do not want this planet to become uninhabitable, nor billions of human beings to be displaced by climate change.
• We the People have had enough of the mass media, now owned by just a few corporations, lying to us either directly or by omission.
• We the People have had enough of subsidizing large and profitable corporations at the expense of actual human beings.
• We the People have had enough of trade policy that supports all of the above while attempting to inhibit or negate our rights under our national Constitution.
• We the People have had enough of the wealthy few funding politicians who enact such policies, and who enact laws meant to create divisions between classes of human beings that are only codified into law for the purpose of dividing our citizenry along lines of race, religion, ancestral nationality, age, sex, or sexual orientation, along with anything else they can dream up.

If Hillary Clinton has supported any of the above, and informing the public of such facts harms her candidacy, then her candidacy deserves to reap what she has sown through her actions.
Attempting to smear the Bernie campaign with racism is a falshood deserves to be at the bottom of the deepest reaches of the ocean along with all the other detritus of the eons.
Attempting to hide the truth by playing the wounded victim card while running for public office deserves to be in the exact same place.
Writing such pieces as described in the first paragraph of this article in an attempt to derail an honest man supports all of the things that are wrong and evil about the current state of affairs in the USA.
Declaring a primary election “won” before all votes are counted and before one campaign has enough elected, pledged delegates to make securing the nomination by the other an actual mathematic fact based solely on math and not just on the writers’ opinions is a subversion of democracy and a violation of the rights of the voters who haven’t yet voted, because it is spreading falshoods and disinformation.
Such writers should bow their heads in shame and renounce their citizenship to the United States, because they obviously do not believe in the U.S. Constitution, nor in promoting the general welfare of actual human beings who are citizens of the United States of America. Perhaps such writers need to be reminded of the preamble to that amazing document:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States...”
To these writers I say: Tell the FACTUAL truth, and let the people VOTE. Or be forever known as online trolls…
Otherwise write about it if you can find an actual LIE that Bernie Sanders has told. Then you might actually have a case. Good luck with that one.

The comments were fast and half supportive, half furious. That is OK. This is the United State of America. I fully expected different opinions and beliefs than those I hold to be expressed.
A few of the opposing camp, or OC as I will call them, also labeled me as a troll, and several labeled me a conspiracy theorist. I was busy working the rest of the day, and it was evening before I got a chance to respond. The following is what I was intending to post:

Point to me where I actually accused the Clinton campaign of doing anything at all. The title simply says they wouldn’t admit it if they did. No conspiracy is actually alleged, so all the references to conspiracy theory are non-factual mis-interpretations of a title. Everything stated in this post is clearly stated in the hypothetical. You might want to re-read it and find a concrete accusation somewhere. Again, good luck with that one.

I have been reading DK for about 15 years, I just don’t post here much. I think my last post was around 2004 after GWB and the Ohio fun with Ken Blackwell.

The two articles I referenced were opinion pieces with intimations of intentional malfeasance on the part of the Bernie Sanders campaign or his supporters, which favor Hillary in exactly the same way many of you have accused me of in these comments. Enjoying a taste of your own medicine much?

It’s about time somebody stuck up for Bernie on this rag. If the site admins ban me for voicing an opinion in support of Bernie, while leaving the other two writers intact to write further opinionated smears of Bernie and his supporters, that will just prove to a great number of people just exactly how “unbiased” a site this is. Their choice.

Have a lovely day.

It was at this point that I discovered that several of the OC comments were correct; Daily Kos had banned me from posting or commenting on the site, even in the thread I had started. There was no recourse to defend myself that was worth my time.

From my perspective, if you post an opinion that defends Bernie - especially to Hillary's detriment - on the Daily Kos website, you get banned. As far as I am concerned, the site operators or administrators or moderators or whatever they call themselves might as well be in the tank for Hillary, even if it's not official on some payroll.

In the spirit of giving them a sample of their own snake oil, I do not allow comments on this blog, so they won't be able to defend their actions on this website. That's actually because I got way too many spam comments back in the day, but it kind of works out.

In the end, here's the final result, as far as I'm concerned, and my last mention of that pitiful excuse for a "progressive, democratic" news and - mostly - opinion site:

Regards, and #FeelTheBern,

Dan

Hoping New York Really Shows Up For Bernie Tomorrow!

So many people have phonebanked, (Over 3,000,000 just this past weekend) canvassed, facebanked, posted, prayed, donated, and everything else you can do to encourage for Bernie, that I have high hopes for tomorrow. No letting up!

It's a mix of pragmatism, love, hope for the future, and compassion for all of Humanity that pulls a voter to Bernie Sanders. Let's hope that carries the day. 

Dan

Bernie Sanders has breakfast plans in Harlem Wednesday with Al Sharpton - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/09/bernie-sanders-has-breakfast-plans-in-harlem-wednesday-with-al-sharpton/

The Presidential Race and Environmental Racism: Flint Water Crisis Center Stage at Democratic Debate

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35113-the-presidential-race-and-environmental-racism-flint-water-crisis-center-stage-at-democratic-debate

Revealed: The Fossil Fuel Tycoons Trying to Buy the US Election

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35105-revealed-the-fossil-fuel-tycoons-trying-to-buy-the-us-election

Check Your California Voter Registration

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/registration-status/

You must be registered as a Democrat or No Party Preference in order to vote for Bernie Sanders.

(**NOT** "Independent" - there is an American Independent Party registered with the CA SOS, and if you register as "Independent", you are registering as an AIP voter and will only be able to vote in their primary.)

You can check your registration status here: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/registration-status/

Do so today, the deadline for changes is coming up soon!

Dan

RSVP now (Temecula): After last night's victories, Bernie needs your help

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "DFA for Bernie Sanders" <info@democracyforamerica.com>
Date: Mar 6, 2016 9:02 AM
Subject: RSVP now (Temecula): After last night's victories, Bernie needs your help
To: "Dan Stafford"
Cc:

After Bernie's big victories in Kansas and Nebraska last night, our political revolution now has a huge opportunity to shock the establishment in Maine, Michigan and in seven other states around the corner.

Bernie's campaign urgently needs Democracy for America members like you to contact voters in states that have not voted yet. Can you make calls to voters from home to help Bernie? (Click here for more information.) If not, can you chip in $3 or more to support Bernie and DFA? (Click here to contribute!) Thank you so much. -- Karli Wallace Thompson, Campaign Manager, Democracy for America

---

Daniel -

Last night's results showed that a grassroots political revolution is spreading across our country.

Eighteen states have voted, Maine is caucusing today, and 31 states (plus D.C.) remain. Millions of voters need to hear from volunteers like you over the next few weeks to make this political revolution a reality. Please join as many events as you can to contact voters in critical March states.

Here's how to get involved.

Phone banking for Bernie - Fallbrook, CA:
Sunday, March 6th at 2:00 PM in Fallbrook

Phone Bank Party at Christine's House:
Monday, March 7th at 5:00 PM in Riverside

Phone banking for Bernie - Oceanside, CA:
Wednesday, March 9th at 12:00 PM in Oceanside

Phone banking for Bernie - Vista, CA:
Thursday, March 10th at 6:00 PM in Vista

Phone Bank for Bernie:
Friday, March 11th at 4:00 PM in Banning

Every day: Bernie Dialer is available from 10 am to 9 pm local time. We especially need calls into Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Florida and North Carolina this week!

You can also check our map for other events near you.

What we are proving on our campaign is that when people stand together, anything is possible. Thank you for everything you are doing to help Bernie win the nomination!

- Team Bernie

Contribute

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