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Bernie's campaign: www.BernieSanders.com
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Peace, Love, And Bernie: Back To The "Bernie Or" Debate...
This has come up time-after-time on Facebook, so here's a meme for you:
Friday, November 20, 2015
Why Bernie?
The idea is to videograph a collection of "man-on-the-street" cellphone videos of Bernie supporters answering the following for questions:
Intro: "Hi, I'm (Name of interviewer) with the Inland Empire For Bernie Sanders blog. We are here with a segment of our 'Why Bernie?' interviews in the Inland Empire."
Questions:
1. Name, Rank, & Bernie Number: Who are you, and what are you doing to help Bernie get elected?
2. How did you find out about Bernie?
3. What are the top three things you like about Bernie's policies?
4. Has Bernie changed how you feel about US elections?
Interviewer: Thank you, (Name of interviewee) and please visit us at WhyBernie.US (Forwards right to this post)
Post the results to Youtube, share on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
I think this could become a very powerful tool for the campaign if it gets done all over the country.
To promote this idea, use www.WhyBernie.US .
Dan Stafford
Intro: "Hi, I'm (Name of interviewer) with the Inland Empire For Bernie Sanders blog. We are here with a segment of our 'Why Bernie?' interviews in the Inland Empire."
Questions:
1. Name, Rank, & Bernie Number: Who are you, and what are you doing to help Bernie get elected?
2. How did you find out about Bernie?
3. What are the top three things you like about Bernie's policies?
4. Has Bernie changed how you feel about US elections?
Interviewer: Thank you, (Name of interviewee) and please visit us at WhyBernie.US (Forwards right to this post)
Post the results to Youtube, share on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
I think this could become a very powerful tool for the campaign if it gets done all over the country.
To promote this idea, use www.WhyBernie.US .
Dan Stafford
Monday, November 16, 2015
Peace, Love, And Bernie: Writing Paris...
Like Bernie, I'm horrified by the attacks in Paris. It's taken me a bit to process at all...but it raises a different fear in me than it does in many others, I think. Being a writer and artist a heart, this is how I have to express it:
Dan
Dan
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Fwd: [So Cal!] Join Bernie Staff in Southern California
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Zack Exley, Bernie 2016" <info@berniesanders.com>
Date: Nov 12, 2015 9:55 AM
Subject: [So Cal!] Join Bernie Staff in Southern California
To: "Daniel Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:
From: "Zack Exley, Bernie 2016" <info@berniesanders.com>
Date: Nov 12, 2015 9:55 AM
Subject: [So Cal!] Join Bernie Staff in Southern California
To: "Daniel Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:
Dear Daniel,
Bernie is giving us a real shot at taking our country back from the billionaire class. Now the only question is: will we, Bernie's millions of supporters, actually do the work that wins presidential campaigns? Californians have played an increadible role in past campaigns contacting voters in the early primary states that we must win for Bernie to have a chance. We believe you're ready to surpass what past presidential campaigns have only dreamed might be possible.
Come get started with national campaign staff in person in Beverly Hills, Santa Ana, North Hollywood, Inland Empire, and San Diego. (Details below and more cities to come!)
We'll also talk about how to keep your amazing local organizing moving, so that we never stop bringing new people into this movement.
Click the city nearest you below to RSVP:
BEVERLY HILLS » Saturday, November 14th - 10:00 a.m. - noon
Ahrya Fine Arts Movie Theater
8556 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
ORANGE COUNTY » Saturday, November 14th - 4:00 - 8:00 p.m.
The Frida Cinema - Santa Ana - Organizing meeting followed by Debate Watch Party!
305 E. 4th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701
NORTH HOLLYWOOD » Sunday, November 15th - 10:00 a.m. - noon
Laemmle NoHo7 Theater (North Hollywood, CA)
5240 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
INLAND EMPIRE » Sunday, November 15th - 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
El Prado Golf Course, Banquet Room
6555 Pine Avenue
Chino, CA 91708
SAN DIEGO » Monday, November 16th - 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Grassroots Oasis
3130 Moore Street
San Diego, CA 92110
Please don't miss this important meeting. Many of you have been doing so much incredible work already and now we want to meet you in person. We are here to support your efforts. And the rest of you who are looking for a way to get started, here it is! We're looking forward to meeting you.
In solidarity,
Zack Exley
Bernie 2016
Paid for by Bernie 2016
PO Box 905 - Burlington VT 05402 United States - (855) 4-BERNIE
This email was sent to aquarianm@gmail.com. If you need to update or change your information or email address, click here to update your info. Email is one of the most important tools we have to reach supporters like you, but you can let us know if you'd like to receive fewer emails. We'd hate to see you go, but if you need to do so, click here to unsubscribe. Stand against the powerful special interests who are systematically buying our Congress and have their sights set on the presidency by contributing to Bernie here.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Peace Love, And Bernie: Overpass Light Brigade; How-To Light Up For Bernie
Overpass Light Brigade shows you here how to make battery-powered light-up signs that you can use for Bernie signs at night:
Letter Making with the Overpass Light Brigade from Occupy Riverwest on Vimeo.
They ask that you form a local Overpass Light Brigade chapter by using "Light Brigade" somewhere in your group name:
Light Up For Bernie!!
Dan
Letter Making with the Overpass Light Brigade from Occupy Riverwest on Vimeo.
They ask that you form a local Overpass Light Brigade chapter by using "Light Brigade" somewhere in your group name:
"More importantly, open up a Light Brigade chapter in your town! We ask that you use the words “Light Brigade” somewhere in your name, build a Facebook page, blog, or website, and then join us in our working group where we share tricks, tips, concerns, and actions, as well as plan messaging for larger collaborations."
Light Up For Bernie!!
Dan
Responding To "Why Are Middle-Aged Whites Dying?" On "The Weekly Sift"
Article Link
Quoting the article linked above:
My response:
The only way to speed newer and more sustainable technological adoption is to remove finance from the picture, and simply base re-tooling and technology adoption on testing for more successful resolution of a given engineering problem.
As for motivation, we need to culturally change what we see as status from the accumulation of wealth and material goods to the accomplishment of innovation.
We need to change the ground under society's collective feet, and we need to give the abused everywhere a reason for hope.
Bernie is the first step down that road, laying the first few paving stones...if he is not blocked by the same forces of capitalism that are abusing and blocking the potential of billions around the globe.
We have many psychoses in modern culture; Corporate capitalism drives most of them, and uses them to perpetuate itself.
With hope,
Dan
Quoting the article linked above:
In 1990, the death rate for American whites aged 45-54 (USW) was within the normal range of similarly aged people in comparable countries, and similar to the death rate for middle-aged American Hispanics (USH). In all the other countries, death rates continued their centuries-long trend of dropping, with USH tracking the United Kingdom rate almost perfectly. But starting in 1998, USW turns up.
A good summary of this new study is in The Atlantic. The upshot is that about half a million American whites are dead who would be alive if USW death rates had followed the downward track of other first-world countries. The effect seems concentrated in the less-educated classes, and the cause is a sudden jump in the rate of what are called “poisonings” — mainly deaths related to alcohol and drugs — as well as an increase in suicides and other causes related to not taking care of yourself. Atlantic concludes that middle-aged whites “are dying of despair”.
My response:
The entire issue goes right back to income inequality
derived from corporatism. It is harder to be successfully middle-class
every year.
In addition, most corporate jobs are requiring longer and
longer hours, longer commutes due to inner-city gentrification, and with
ever-greater workloads after layer-upon-layer of layoffs in the past
three decades, with the worst of it over the past 15 years.
I can attest to it first-hand, I saw it in my own industry,
and nearly everyone I knew in every other industry I could imagine were
reporting the same things: wave after wave of mergers/buyouts, each
followed within months by layoffs.
I can't tell you how many offices I worked in Chicago, each with 15-20 desks, most with only one or
three still in use.
The combination of abandoning anti-trust enforcement and
adoption of pro-corporate trade agreements has made worker stress on the
job and off a Made-In-The-USA product, where few still exist.
Workers in union shops are barely protected from this.
Those of us in non-union shops have been mercilessly abused. The vast
majority of the US workforce has the employee equivalent of battered-spouse syndrome.
They stay, because they see no way out. Once they pass the age of 50, it is triply-so. Age discrimination is never admitted, but constantly practiced.
I know this because I personally lived it. I know friends and former colleagues who are STILL living it. I know the rampant exhaustion and depression
The only way many can maintain any sense of pride or status
is by pointing to those in even more dire circumstances than they are. It certainly doesn't come from a sense of having done "a good job" when the corporate rule is multi-tasking at all levels, and at all times.
Nowhere in the spreadsheet calculations of "efficiency experts" accounting for the time it takes to keep accurate records amidst constant interruptions. They do not take into account travel time between offices. They do not take into account combative competition in the multiple work requests coming in from multiple requestors in many different departments dispersed all over the globe. They do not take into account any variation from the "laboratory" conditions under which they observe tasks being done.
What we really need in this country is a mass exodus from
corporate employment into entrepreneurial employment, which would shut
down the corporate illusion factory. Couple that with
technology-assisted barter...which I like to call "Techism."
What Bernie Sanders proposes will go a long way toward helping youth achieve a better future. It will help the environment. It will drive up economic activity and jobs, and it will solve many infrastructure issues. There are a lot of positives in Bernie's plan.
Still, it leaves the issues of corporate personhood and the abandonment of anti-trust investigation and enforcement. It also leaves the existing workforce with a form of PTSD on a national scale.
We have a long, long way to go in this country before any real respect for human values and needs like rest, exercise, and social bonds are respected in actual fact, and not just given lip service.
Globally, we also face the looming spectre of automation breathing down Labor's neck. There is no mechanism built into traditional Capitalism to deal with this. Everyone knows the robots are coming, yet few are talking about it. Capitalism only relates labor to money, and has no means built into it to provide for the needs of those who are displaced from work by automation as it will be in thirty years or so.
This is why I believe that we will need to have a global paradigm shift in the ways we use to allocate resources based on both human and societal needs.
The only answer that makes sense is something that I call "Techism," for lack of a better term. We need to use technology to track resource needs globally, and administer resource distribution. We need to remove money from the equation and base it on a hierarchal series of values:
- Environmental sustainability.
- Human needs and values.
- Obsolescence due to technological improvement.
- Newer, smaller companies attempt to disrupt and displace their way into a competitive capitalist market.
- Older, established companies use every means possible to avoid being displaced and to wring every dime from existing capital infrastructure.
The only way to speed newer and more sustainable technological adoption is to remove finance from the picture, and simply base re-tooling and technology adoption on testing for more successful resolution of a given engineering problem.
As for motivation, we need to culturally change what we see as status from the accumulation of wealth and material goods to the accomplishment of innovation.
We need to change the ground under society's collective feet, and we need to give the abused everywhere a reason for hope.
Bernie is the first step down that road, laying the first few paving stones...if he is not blocked by the same forces of capitalism that are abusing and blocking the potential of billions around the globe.
We have many psychoses in modern culture; Corporate capitalism drives most of them, and uses them to perpetuate itself.
With hope,
Dan
Monday, November 9, 2015
Peace, Love, & Bernie: On Passion, Getting Things Done, And The Psychosis Of Self-Fulfilling Apocalypse
I see it online, and I see it in local meetings; People are passionate in their support of Bernie Sanders. To many, possibly even millions now, Bernie represents hope at the edge of a cliff.
The fear of oligarchy and feudalism is sharp in the air to those who have awakened and are aware.
The hope of salvation is found in the memory of great American Presidents such as Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and others. To many, Bernie Sanders is reminiscent of FDR. Both men presented something that was and has been severely lacking in US culture prior to their arrival on the scene: a positive vision of the future, and a wider prosperity for the people of this nation. I will return to that part about a positive vision for the future later in this writing.
Over 750,000 people have donated to the campaign, with an average donation amount of $35.00. Many have donated repeatedly, with the campaign having received over a million individual donations. These numbers are noth HISTORIC and record-breaking. No other campaign in US history has received donations from so many individual donors.
These numbers not only speak volumes about the grass-roots popular support of the campaign, they also speak greatly about the passion of the people in their support of Bernie Sanders. To me, that passion is a sign of the deep sincerity that Bernie's supporters share widely. It also is a sign of the stressful dichotomy I mentioned above, that sharp contrast of hope and fear.
Anger is one component of passion, hope is the other. It is the strangest alchemy of Human emotion. I do not think great passion can exist without the mix of both hope and fear.
Anger is always a derivative of fear. It is well-known that there are two natural responses to fear; Fight or flight. Think back to any point in your life where anger was in your heart. Anger at a failing relationship is the "fight" response to the fear of losing someone dear to you. Anger at someone cutting you off in traffic is the fight response to the fear of what a collision could do to your life.
Anger at someone suggesting a different approach to a problem is the fight response to the fear of losing control over a situation that could affect your life or the life of others. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong in the heat of the moment; We're simply too invested to just let someone else take the reigns without "fighting" for what we believe is right - and against an outcome we fear. It is only after the emotional reaction has subsided that the two sides - who may well agree on the outcome they are trying to achieve - can come together with some degree of logic and work out a compromise solution that everyone hopes they can live with.
It is exactly this part of being human that the democratic form of government we have is supposed to mediate. Control of the means to an end is at the heart of the divide between all the dualities in modern politics, and all the factions in every political coalition. Democrat or Republican, Progressive or Conservative, Populist or Corporatist...or Bernie supporter and other Bernie supporter.
The NEED for Bernie's campaign is clear; Bernie stands as the only visible route in modern times out of a nearly catastrophic global psychotic maelstrom of corporatism that is eating our freedom, prosperity, and even possibly the habitability of the planet and any hope of future generations. For those of you who do not see corporatism as a threat to the very survival of humanity, rest assured that there are millions who very much do. I do not exaggerate the level of long-term threat felt by those who are working to free the world from corporocracy.
That means that we are going to have disagreement within the ranks on strategy, on timing, and on a host of other issues. Even more; We are a grass-roots, self-organized army of volunteers. There may be leaders, but they are most definitely not rulers.
All this means that it is critical that when tempers flare as multiple methods of supporting the campaign are debated, we remember that we are all trying to achieve the same end: a breakthrough in the current political paradigm and the election of a true populist to the Presidency. We MUST take the time to step back, see our fellow Bernie supporters as allies and not opponents, and wait for reason to rise above emotion again.
In speaking to the dearth of a positive vision for the future in modern culture, I look directly to the entertainment that surrounds us.
On television and in the movies, and online, we are bombarded constantly with stories and images of apocalypse, violence, war, and crime. Stories that outline what we could truly achieve with modern technology are almost never told. Such stories are as exotic as a meteorite of solid gold landing softly in your backyard. Even documentaries tend to focus far more on the problems facing us than on potential solutions.
Stories of the great triumphs of human engineering are relegated to the rapidly-receding past of the post-depression era of the 20th century, with rare examples peeking through. Perhaps if you read science and engineering magazines, you may see glimmers of hope, but how many among the general population do? It wasn't much different after the 1930's depression, either, especially once the second world war was engaged.
The entertainment constantly submitted before us in the few hours we have away from work, along with the general struggle of life for the current working class after forty years of the erosion of wages, benefits, and working conditions amounts to a psychic assault. I'm not talking telepaths, I'm just talking about everything we see being struggle, strife, violence, or even the fall of civilization, leading to exactly what the wealthy want us to feel: competition between ourselves and every other human on the planet instead of cooperation.
Modern mass media, and to a fair extent social media are used to:
I have personally witnessed the media in both film and on television getting progressively darker from year-to-year over the past twenty years.
With this psycological backdrop, is it any wonder that someone offering hope such as Bernie Sanders does seems like some sort of miracle?
Still, there is only one way out of collective darkness; We must join hands, share what light we can find together, and all put one foot in front of the other to leave it behind. Bernie may be walking out in front, but he would be walking alone if we weren't all walking with him, sharing our lights.
#FeelTheBern - and try to hold your own candle flames steady as you may without burning each other along the way.
Dan
The fear of oligarchy and feudalism is sharp in the air to those who have awakened and are aware.
The hope of salvation is found in the memory of great American Presidents such as Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and others. To many, Bernie Sanders is reminiscent of FDR. Both men presented something that was and has been severely lacking in US culture prior to their arrival on the scene: a positive vision of the future, and a wider prosperity for the people of this nation. I will return to that part about a positive vision for the future later in this writing.
Over 750,000 people have donated to the campaign, with an average donation amount of $35.00. Many have donated repeatedly, with the campaign having received over a million individual donations. These numbers are noth HISTORIC and record-breaking. No other campaign in US history has received donations from so many individual donors.
These numbers not only speak volumes about the grass-roots popular support of the campaign, they also speak greatly about the passion of the people in their support of Bernie Sanders. To me, that passion is a sign of the deep sincerity that Bernie's supporters share widely. It also is a sign of the stressful dichotomy I mentioned above, that sharp contrast of hope and fear.
Anger is one component of passion, hope is the other. It is the strangest alchemy of Human emotion. I do not think great passion can exist without the mix of both hope and fear.
Anger is always a derivative of fear. It is well-known that there are two natural responses to fear; Fight or flight. Think back to any point in your life where anger was in your heart. Anger at a failing relationship is the "fight" response to the fear of losing someone dear to you. Anger at someone cutting you off in traffic is the fight response to the fear of what a collision could do to your life.
Anger at someone suggesting a different approach to a problem is the fight response to the fear of losing control over a situation that could affect your life or the life of others. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong in the heat of the moment; We're simply too invested to just let someone else take the reigns without "fighting" for what we believe is right - and against an outcome we fear. It is only after the emotional reaction has subsided that the two sides - who may well agree on the outcome they are trying to achieve - can come together with some degree of logic and work out a compromise solution that everyone hopes they can live with.
It is exactly this part of being human that the democratic form of government we have is supposed to mediate. Control of the means to an end is at the heart of the divide between all the dualities in modern politics, and all the factions in every political coalition. Democrat or Republican, Progressive or Conservative, Populist or Corporatist...or Bernie supporter and other Bernie supporter.
The NEED for Bernie's campaign is clear; Bernie stands as the only visible route in modern times out of a nearly catastrophic global psychotic maelstrom of corporatism that is eating our freedom, prosperity, and even possibly the habitability of the planet and any hope of future generations. For those of you who do not see corporatism as a threat to the very survival of humanity, rest assured that there are millions who very much do. I do not exaggerate the level of long-term threat felt by those who are working to free the world from corporocracy.
That means that we are going to have disagreement within the ranks on strategy, on timing, and on a host of other issues. Even more; We are a grass-roots, self-organized army of volunteers. There may be leaders, but they are most definitely not rulers.
All this means that it is critical that when tempers flare as multiple methods of supporting the campaign are debated, we remember that we are all trying to achieve the same end: a breakthrough in the current political paradigm and the election of a true populist to the Presidency. We MUST take the time to step back, see our fellow Bernie supporters as allies and not opponents, and wait for reason to rise above emotion again.
In speaking to the dearth of a positive vision for the future in modern culture, I look directly to the entertainment that surrounds us.
On television and in the movies, and online, we are bombarded constantly with stories and images of apocalypse, violence, war, and crime. Stories that outline what we could truly achieve with modern technology are almost never told. Such stories are as exotic as a meteorite of solid gold landing softly in your backyard. Even documentaries tend to focus far more on the problems facing us than on potential solutions.
Stories of the great triumphs of human engineering are relegated to the rapidly-receding past of the post-depression era of the 20th century, with rare examples peeking through. Perhaps if you read science and engineering magazines, you may see glimmers of hope, but how many among the general population do? It wasn't much different after the 1930's depression, either, especially once the second world war was engaged.
The entertainment constantly submitted before us in the few hours we have away from work, along with the general struggle of life for the current working class after forty years of the erosion of wages, benefits, and working conditions amounts to a psychic assault. I'm not talking telepaths, I'm just talking about everything we see being struggle, strife, violence, or even the fall of civilization, leading to exactly what the wealthy want us to feel: competition between ourselves and every other human on the planet instead of cooperation.
Modern mass media, and to a fair extent social media are used to:
- Pit men against women.
- Pit people of differing skin color against each other.
- Pit one religion against the others.
- Pit secular people against religious people.
- Pit the elderly against those of working age AND against youth.
- Pit younger workers against older experienced workers.
- Pit one nation against another.
- Pit groups of nations against other groups of nations.
- Pit those struggling for positive change against those who fear the loss of what little they now have.
I have personally witnessed the media in both film and on television getting progressively darker from year-to-year over the past twenty years.
With this psycological backdrop, is it any wonder that someone offering hope such as Bernie Sanders does seems like some sort of miracle?
Still, there is only one way out of collective darkness; We must join hands, share what light we can find together, and all put one foot in front of the other to leave it behind. Bernie may be walking out in front, but he would be walking alone if we weren't all walking with him, sharing our lights.
#FeelTheBern - and try to hold your own candle flames steady as you may without burning each other along the way.
Dan
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
2nd Dem Debate Watch Party Hosted By Lake Elsinore For Bernie - All Voters Welcome
Event Links:
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/192259034443581/
Bernie Events RSVP Link: https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/detail/debatewatchpartynov14th/4vgls
When: Saturday, November 14th - 5pm to 9pm PST
Host: Angela Derrick
Location:
Azteca Grill (Lake Elsinore, CA)
31701 Riverside Drive, Suite D
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Maps:
Directions:
From Highway I-5 North and South: Exit Central
Avenue (Hwy. 74). Drive west on Hwy. 74 for 2.5 miles. Restaurant is on
right, between W. Lakeshore Drive and Grand Avenue. It is almost across
the street from the Lake Elsinore Recreation Area and approx. 3 blocks
east of Lakeside High School. Their phone number is (951) 245-8822.
Description:
Please join us for the second Democratic Debate from Des Moines, Iowa. We are pleased to host this event at Azteca Grill, a new restaurant in Lake Elsinore. This location has three TV screens and a projection system to ensure good viewing and audio capabilities. Great Mexican food and drinks will be available for purchase, and parking is plentiful. The exact debate broadcast time is still unknown, but please come early to meet and dine with your fellow Bernie supporters.
We believe that Bernie Sanders is the most consistent and best qualified presidential candidate to address our challenging national and global issues.
Mark your calendars for this important event, and be sure to invite your friends and family to help us cheer for Bernie!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Peace, Love, & Bernie: Was #BernieOrBust Created By Republican Campaign Strategists?
Was #BernieOrBust Created By Republican Campaign Strategists?
The "Bernie Or Bust" movement purports to "Revolt against plutocracy" by writing Bernie in on your ballot in the general election in the event that Bernie doesn't succeed in becoming the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
Before anyone gets the idea here that I am pushing them to vote for Hillary Clinton in the event that she takes the nomination, I am NOT. There IS a better alternative than writing in Bernie should Hillary be nominated. I will go into what that alternative is, and why writing in Bernie if he is not the Democratic nominee is pointless and something the Republicans and Plutocrats would love. I will state here that I myself cannot stomach the idea of voting for another Corporatist, and that is exactly what I see Hillary as.
Now that we have that out of the way, I will discuss why I suspect that "Bernie or BUST" is an idea created by Republican trollsters.
I was an elected Democratic Precinct Committeeman in York Township precinct 112, DuPage county, Illinois for three years. (2011-2014) I did this for several reasons:
Prior to taking on getting elected as a PC, I was involved with the Illinois Dennis Kucinich campaign of 2004 in writing letters to the editors of local newspapers. When Dennis failed to be nominated by the Democratic party, the remnants of his campaign formed a grass-roots organization called Progressive Democrats of America. (The link to the left is the article on PDA at Wikipedia. PDA's site is at http://www.pdamerica.org/ )
This organization (PDA) is NOT affiliated with the Democratic party. It attempts to get Progressives elected as Democrats because getting candidates on the ballot as either a Democrat or a Republican requires far less voter signatures on ballot petitions than most States require of any other party.
Getting a candidate's name on the ballot can be as different as needing notarized petition signatures from 5,000 voters for a Democrat or Republican vs. 50,000 notarized signatures for ANY other party. Also, those signatures must come from registered voters, not just anyone. On top of that, party officials from any opposing party have a habit of legally challenging any petition signatures with the Election Commission, so if the requirement is 5,000 signatures, you want to get 10,000 so you can defeat any opponent's petition challenge. If the rquirement is 50,000 - get 100,000 or your candidate may not even appear on the ballot. (Note: The base number of petition signatures required varies by office. Since a Precinct Committeeman was only slightly higher than dog poop in the party, and not paid one cent, the base requirement was I believe 20 signatures, so I tried for 40. The numbers above would be something like a US House seat.)
Granted, the numbers I am referencing above are governed by State law, and are for the State of Illinois, but it's not so different in most other States. When you see that, it tells you a lot about how the game is rigged in favor of the status quo at all levels.
The two main points there are that A) I learned about this kind of thing from becoming the most basic officer a party has in Illinois - Precinct Committeeman - and B) PDA is NOT an arm or the Democratic party, they just realize they face less futility by trying to change it from inside the rigged rules.
I also served as the leader of a smaller group of grass-roots activists called Progressive Democrats of Illinois, who were a fantastic bunch of folk that I still count as friends, and that brought me around to becoming a PC. I did that from 2004-2012 and didn't get too awful far.
One of the things that I learned by being a Precinct Committeeman was that in order for a write-in vote to count, the person whose name is being written in MUST file with the Election Commission in each county, and by the legal deadline, with all the required NON-MAJOR-PARTY registered voter petition signatures, to be a valid write-in candidate. Their name wouldn't be on the ballot, a blank would. However, if you write in Mickey Mouse, ha ha, it doesn't count. Only writing in the name of a candidate who has met all the legal requirements to be a valid write-in candidate is counted as a vote. Any other write-in is counted as a "no-vote" for that particular office on the voter's ballot. (Also known as an "undervote," like they missed checking off anything for that particular office.)
Granted, the rules for write-in candidates are governed by State law, and in some cases a State may even leave it to a County, but the number of jusrisdictions where a vote for an un-filed write-in candidate is counted as valid in a national election such as the Presidency (Or Congress) of the USA is probably the equivalent of a toddler pissing in an olympic-sized swimming pool.
The point here is that, if you write in Bernie's name in the event of a Hillary nomination, you are in about the same position of that toddler peeing in the pool, unless Bernie and his campaign do all the filing work NATIONALLY to get him registered as a write-in candidate. If you don't believe me, feel free to check the election laws in your particular State.
Now, I realize that if you've read this far, the subject likely matters to you, and you're not going to be voting for Hillary if Bernie's not the nominee, regardless of what anyone says. Guess what? I'm right there with you. I wouldn't either. So here is where that alternative I mentioned comes in.
I am proposing that, in the event Hillary is nominated, (An I think I'm wasting my time writing this, 'cause Bernie gonna win!!) we turn around and vote for the likely Green party candidate, Dr. Jill Stein. I am calling this strategy #BernieOrGreen2016.
A Green Party USA platform would be so close to Bernie's that most of you won't find major differences. A vote for the Green nominee would actually count. It would also count towards making it easier for highly-Progressive Greens to get on the ballot nationally. You see, if you get enough of a percentage of the vote in one election, many States elevate your party to major party status in the next election. In that case, you have the same petition requirements as the Dems or Repubs. If you want to do a protest vote that reflects your Progressive values and will actually stick a needle in the butts of the "major party" corporatists, #BernieOrGreen2016 would actually matter.
If enough people adhered to that strategy, very, very loudly, you might pull those holding their noses and looking at HRC into putting their intention toward something they can be proud of.
Wasting God-knows-how-many votes that wouldn't count vs. helping more Progressives get access to the ballot or even actually getting one elected. Hmm. Let me chew on that one...
#BernieOrBust seems to me designed to siphon off Progressive votes like piss down the toilet if Hillary is nominated, thereby helping hand the Presidency to the Republican candidate. (*Shudder*) #BernieOrGreen2016 would actually do something for Progressives. It's still a big risk, but a lot better one than wasting votes altogether, or not voting.
But first, I AM VOTING FOR BERNIE in the Democratic primaries this time. Because #Bernie GonnaWin - and I will have just wasted an hour writing this blog post, and be happy as a progressive clam.
Peace, Love, and Bernie, and to quote the Summer of Love generation that came before me, can you dig it?
Dan Stafford
The "Bernie Or Bust" movement purports to "Revolt against plutocracy" by writing Bernie in on your ballot in the general election in the event that Bernie doesn't succeed in becoming the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
Before anyone gets the idea here that I am pushing them to vote for Hillary Clinton in the event that she takes the nomination, I am NOT. There IS a better alternative than writing in Bernie should Hillary be nominated. I will go into what that alternative is, and why writing in Bernie if he is not the Democratic nominee is pointless and something the Republicans and Plutocrats would love. I will state here that I myself cannot stomach the idea of voting for another Corporatist, and that is exactly what I see Hillary as.
Now that we have that out of the way, I will discuss why I suspect that "Bernie or BUST" is an idea created by Republican trollsters.
I was an elected Democratic Precinct Committeeman in York Township precinct 112, DuPage county, Illinois for three years. (2011-2014) I did this for several reasons:
- DuPage county, IL was dominated by Republicans in-office.
- I had no idea how local politics, or State-level politics in IL actually worked and wanted to learn.
- I wanted to help get Progressives elected in Illinois.
Prior to taking on getting elected as a PC, I was involved with the Illinois Dennis Kucinich campaign of 2004 in writing letters to the editors of local newspapers. When Dennis failed to be nominated by the Democratic party, the remnants of his campaign formed a grass-roots organization called Progressive Democrats of America. (The link to the left is the article on PDA at Wikipedia. PDA's site is at http://www.pdamerica.org/ )
This organization (PDA) is NOT affiliated with the Democratic party. It attempts to get Progressives elected as Democrats because getting candidates on the ballot as either a Democrat or a Republican requires far less voter signatures on ballot petitions than most States require of any other party.
Getting a candidate's name on the ballot can be as different as needing notarized petition signatures from 5,000 voters for a Democrat or Republican vs. 50,000 notarized signatures for ANY other party. Also, those signatures must come from registered voters, not just anyone. On top of that, party officials from any opposing party have a habit of legally challenging any petition signatures with the Election Commission, so if the requirement is 5,000 signatures, you want to get 10,000 so you can defeat any opponent's petition challenge. If the rquirement is 50,000 - get 100,000 or your candidate may not even appear on the ballot. (Note: The base number of petition signatures required varies by office. Since a Precinct Committeeman was only slightly higher than dog poop in the party, and not paid one cent, the base requirement was I believe 20 signatures, so I tried for 40. The numbers above would be something like a US House seat.)
Granted, the numbers I am referencing above are governed by State law, and are for the State of Illinois, but it's not so different in most other States. When you see that, it tells you a lot about how the game is rigged in favor of the status quo at all levels.
The two main points there are that A) I learned about this kind of thing from becoming the most basic officer a party has in Illinois - Precinct Committeeman - and B) PDA is NOT an arm or the Democratic party, they just realize they face less futility by trying to change it from inside the rigged rules.
I also served as the leader of a smaller group of grass-roots activists called Progressive Democrats of Illinois, who were a fantastic bunch of folk that I still count as friends, and that brought me around to becoming a PC. I did that from 2004-2012 and didn't get too awful far.
One of the things that I learned by being a Precinct Committeeman was that in order for a write-in vote to count, the person whose name is being written in MUST file with the Election Commission in each county, and by the legal deadline, with all the required NON-MAJOR-PARTY registered voter petition signatures, to be a valid write-in candidate. Their name wouldn't be on the ballot, a blank would. However, if you write in Mickey Mouse, ha ha, it doesn't count. Only writing in the name of a candidate who has met all the legal requirements to be a valid write-in candidate is counted as a vote. Any other write-in is counted as a "no-vote" for that particular office on the voter's ballot. (Also known as an "undervote," like they missed checking off anything for that particular office.)
Granted, the rules for write-in candidates are governed by State law, and in some cases a State may even leave it to a County, but the number of jusrisdictions where a vote for an un-filed write-in candidate is counted as valid in a national election such as the Presidency (Or Congress) of the USA is probably the equivalent of a toddler pissing in an olympic-sized swimming pool.
The point here is that, if you write in Bernie's name in the event of a Hillary nomination, you are in about the same position of that toddler peeing in the pool, unless Bernie and his campaign do all the filing work NATIONALLY to get him registered as a write-in candidate. If you don't believe me, feel free to check the election laws in your particular State.
Now, I realize that if you've read this far, the subject likely matters to you, and you're not going to be voting for Hillary if Bernie's not the nominee, regardless of what anyone says. Guess what? I'm right there with you. I wouldn't either. So here is where that alternative I mentioned comes in.
I am proposing that, in the event Hillary is nominated, (An I think I'm wasting my time writing this, 'cause Bernie gonna win!!) we turn around and vote for the likely Green party candidate, Dr. Jill Stein. I am calling this strategy #BernieOrGreen2016.
A Green Party USA platform would be so close to Bernie's that most of you won't find major differences. A vote for the Green nominee would actually count. It would also count towards making it easier for highly-Progressive Greens to get on the ballot nationally. You see, if you get enough of a percentage of the vote in one election, many States elevate your party to major party status in the next election. In that case, you have the same petition requirements as the Dems or Repubs. If you want to do a protest vote that reflects your Progressive values and will actually stick a needle in the butts of the "major party" corporatists, #BernieOrGreen2016 would actually matter.
If enough people adhered to that strategy, very, very loudly, you might pull those holding their noses and looking at HRC into putting their intention toward something they can be proud of.
Wasting God-knows-how-many votes that wouldn't count vs. helping more Progressives get access to the ballot or even actually getting one elected. Hmm. Let me chew on that one...
#BernieOrBust seems to me designed to siphon off Progressive votes like piss down the toilet if Hillary is nominated, thereby helping hand the Presidency to the Republican candidate. (*Shudder*) #BernieOrGreen2016 would actually do something for Progressives. It's still a big risk, but a lot better one than wasting votes altogether, or not voting.
But first, I AM VOTING FOR BERNIE in the Democratic primaries this time. Because #Bernie GonnaWin - and I will have just wasted an hour writing this blog post, and be happy as a progressive clam.
Peace, Love, and Bernie, and to quote the Summer of Love generation that came before me, can you dig it?
Dan Stafford
Here's Why You Should Vote Bernie Sanders vs. Hillary Clinton (Youtube)
Just the two candidates speaking. No sub-titles, no narration. You decide who's being honest with you.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Local Bernie Events
~13.4MI Nov 14 05:00 PM
Inland Empire for Bernie - Debate Watch Party
Volunteer EventThe Diamond Club Restaurant 500 Diamond Drive Lake Elsinore CA 92530
RSVP9 SIGN UPS~15.2MI Nov 01 10:00 AM
Latino Voter Registration in Lake Elsinore
Volunteer EventHistoric Downtown Mainstreet Lake Elsinore CA 92530
RSVP~17.7MI Oct 29 06:00 PM
Organizing meeting for Bernie
Volunteer EventThe Elsinore Sports Club and Grill 31731 Riverside Drive Lake Elsinore CA 92530
RSVP~18.1MI Nov 19 06:00 PM
Monthly in-Person Meeting for Bernie Supporters of San Jacinto Valley
Volunteer EventHemt, San Jacinto Valley, Riverside County, Southern California 530 1/2 east Florida Av. Hemet CA 92543
RSVP~18.8MI Nov 14 05:00 PM
Oceanside Bernie Debate Watching Party
Volunteer EventPJ & David's home 2101 Timneh Court Oceanside CA 92057
RSVP~22MI Nov 01 01:00 PM
San Diego Can Help Bernie win Iowa: Learn how to make calls to Iowa voters !
Volunteer EventPrivate Residence 2251 Catalina Avenue Vista CA 92084
RSVP9 SIGN UPS~23MI Nov 01 12:30 PM
Vista - Cornering the Vote for Bernie
Volunteer EventParking lot Corner of Vista Village Drive and North Santa Fe Vista Village Drive and North Santa Fe Vista CA 92083
RSVP~23.9MI Nov 14 08:00 AM
Vista Farmer's Market
Volunteer EventVista Farmer's Market 325 S Melrose Dr Vista CA 92081
RSVP~26.7MI Oct 29 05:00 PM
flyering at the sunset market in oceanside
Volunteer EventSunset Market, Oceanside Civic Center Dr and N Tremont St Oceanside CA 92054
RSVP~28MI Nov 01 08:00 AM
Flyering at the popular Carlsbad Village Faire
Volunteer EventCarlsbad Village Grand Avenue Carlsbad CA 92008
RSVP~31.4MI Nov 14 04:00 PM
2nd Debate watch party, Beaumont for Bernie
Volunteer EventBeaumont 1747 vasili lane Beaumont CA 92223
RSVP~33MI Oct 31 08:30 AM
Cornering the Vote for Bernie Sanders in Encinitas, CA!
Volunteer EventCorner of El Camino Real and Leucadia Blvd. Encinitas CA 92024
RSVP~34.2MI Oct 28 04:00 PM
Bernie Sanders Webcast to Mira Costa College Students
Volunteer EventBlackburn residence 1623 Jerrilynn Place Encinitas CA 92024
RSVP~34.3MI Oct 28 03:30 PM
Riverside City College National Student Town Hall Live Stream
Volunteer EventRiverside City College, Quad 208 4800 Magnolia Ave Riverside CA 92506
RSVP~34.3MI Nov 14 05:00 PM
Riverside City College Friends of Bernie 2nd Debate Watch Party
Volunteer EventRiverside City College, Digital Library 4800 Magnolia Ave Riverside CA 92506
RSVP~34.6MI Nov 05 06:00 PM
Flyering and Registering Voters at Riverside Arts Walk
Volunteer EventDowntown Riverside University & Lemon Riverside CA 92501
RSVP~36.9MI Nov 05 06:00 PM
Laguna Beach Art Walk Iformational Leafleting
Volunteer EventPacific Coast Highway at Cress Street 611 Cress Street Laguna Beach CA 92651
RSVP~41.4MI Oct 28 06:00 PM
Coachella Valley For Bernie Sanders October Meeting
Volunteer EventDemocrats Of The Desert 67-555 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite C104 Cathedral City CA 92234
RSVP13 SIGN UPS~41.8MI Oct 31 08:00 PM
OC4Bernie "Feelin' the Bern" Halloween Party and Fundraiser
Volunteer EventSpooky House in Orange RSVP for Address Orange CA 92869
RSVP8 SIGN UPS~41.8MI Oct 28 05:00 PM
BernEaters presents: Livestream Townhall with Bernie
Volunteer EventUCI University of California, Irvine Irvine CA 92697
RSVP126 SIGN UPS~41.9MI Oct 31 12:30 PM
OC4BERNIE - Honk and Wave - IRVINE
Volunteer EventSidewalk, Corner of Campus and Bridge (Across from UCI) Sidewalk, Corner of Campus and Bridge (Across from UCI) Irvine CA 92617
RSVP~43.5MI Nov 07 08:00 AM
Leafleting & Registering Voters at Farmer's Market (Sierra & Arrow)
Volunteer EventRegistering Voters at Fontana Farmer's Market (Sierra & Arrow) Corner of Sierra & Arrow Fontana CA 92335
RSVP~44.8MI Oct 28 03:30 PM
National Student Hall Live Stream Watch Party
Volunteer EventRegus Towers Costa Mesa 600 Anton Blvd., 11th Floor Costa Mesa CA 92626
RSVP~45MI Oct 28 04:00 PM
Tritons for Bernie - National Student Town Hall
Volunteer EventJohn Muir Room | Price Center Level 2 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla CA 92093
RSVP~45.1MI Oct 28 05:00 PM
CNBC Republican Debate Watch Party
Volunteer EventThe Frida Cinema 305 E 4th St Santa Ana CA 92701
RSVP~46.1MI Oct 28 07:00 PM
UC San Diego Guardian Staff
Volunteer EventUCSD Guardian office San Diego CA 92122
RSVP~47.3MI Nov 14 05:00 PM
Debate Watch Party
Volunteer EventPrivate residence 2903 Baker St. Costa Mesa CA 92626
RSVP
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