~ C.J.~ of SW @cjofsw-blog - Tumblr Blog

beeishappy

LSSC | 2016.11.14

cjofsw-blog

Without a Dem pres, his voice is likely to be

among those amplified. Like the past appearance

he had on the Steven Colbert show, where Colbert

told his audience "I can't think of anybody I'd

rather have on this show. I think that's the

leader of the opposition now, Bernie Sanders."

My dear Gryphon friends. :-D

berniesrevolution

Fans of the runner-up in the Democratic primary turn to the senator for reassurance about politics.

For nearly a week now, many of them have been reeling, wondering what will happen in Washington and what it will mean for the “revolution” Sanders pushed. On Monday, he urged his supporters to become more involved politically, not less.

They were taken inside in groups, led up an escalator and steered past the cafe, where they waited in another line that led to a beige curtain blocking the view of store patrons. After a chance for a photo and a few words with Sanders behind the curtain, some emerged in tears.

Goldstein, who described the senator as “insanely gracious,” said she was doing her best not to cry before leaving the store.

Others expressed their emotions in different ways. “I feel crazy, like I just took a hit of drugs or something!” yelled one perhaps 30-something woman, who declined to be interviewed as she headed down the escalator.

Some were wearing light-blue “Bernie” T-shirts from his upstart presidential campaign. One woman sported a button reading, “Talk Bernie To Me.” A college student was clad in a “Bernie onesie” decorated with dozens of images of the senator’s head.

All, it seemed, were still trying to make sense of a general election somehow lost by Democrat Hillary Clinton — one that many of them said they thought Sanders could have won if only he had been the party’s nominee.

“I think it was a terrible mistake,” said Josh Youngerman, 25, a political activist and actor from Brooklyn, who argued that Sanders would have been the stronger candidate against Trump.

With his message of economic populism, Sanders connected better than Clinton in some of the Rust Belt states that she lost, including Michigan and Wisconsin, he said.

Youngerman said he had volunteered for Sanders’s campaign in five states and logged more than 400 hours working phone banks for him — yet never met the senator before Monday night.

“It helps. It helps, for sure,” he said, quickly changing his tone. “But still, it’s pretty devastating. We have a fascist for a president.”

“It is really emotional,” Kayla Ichikawa of Queens said after she and her husband had their picture taken with Sanders behind the curtain.

Before Sanders’s primary bid, Ichikawa, 24, said she felt jaded by politics. Sanders gave her hope.

berniesrevolution

Rep. Keith Ellison, Howard Dean, and Jaime Harrison are running to head the Democratic National Committee.

THE DEMOCRATIC TROUNCING last week has set off a contest for control of the party. So far, three individuals have stepped up to announce their bids for chair of the Democratic National Committee, vying to replace interim chair Donna Brazile. It’s a race that pits a left-wing member of Congress against two corporate lobbyists.

First, there’s Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim-American ever elected to Congress. Ellison has long been an advocate for his party’s left faction, and is currently a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

In announcing his bid for DNC chair, Ellison emphasized the need for the party to adopt a full-time organizing approach and build a multiracial coalition.

“It is not enough for Democrats to ask for voters’ support every two years. We must be with them through every lost paycheck, every tuition hike, and every time they are the victim of a hate crime,” he said in his announcing statement. “When voters know what Democrats stand for, we can improve the lives of all Americans, no matter their race, religion or sexual orientation. To do that, we must begin the rebuilding process now.”

Two other individuals have thrown their hats into the ring, and both have deep ties to Washington’s lobbying industry.

First, there’s Vermont’s former Democratic Gov. Howard Dean, who said that the party needs to re-focus on “the young” and rebuild its 50-state strategy, which he emphasized during his own tenure as DNC chair between 2005 and 2009:

Interestingly, Dean told MSNBC last week that he objects to Ellison’s bid because he’s an active member of Congress and “you cannot do this job if it’s not full time. Period. Full stop. End of story.”

But he isn’t exactly unemployed himself. His day job is as a “senior advisor in the Public Policy and Regulation practice” at Dentons, a massive lobbying and law firm where he worked alongside another key Dentons staffer — Trump-backer Newt Gingrich — to promote the firm’s business.

Dean has in the past angrily denied that he lobbies, and it is true that he is not a registered federal lobbyist. But we know, for example, that he was retained by the drug industry — and began writing in favor of its policy agenda. He has reversed himself on a campaign pledge he made during his presidential bid in 2004, now arguing that Medicare should not be able to negotiate for lower drug prices. Additionally, he has given paid speeches for the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a fringe Iranian exile group, while attacking the nuclear agreement with Iran — just like another Trump backer, Rudy Giuliani.

Last, we have South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison. Harrison appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show on Monday to announce his bid. “I love this party. Everything I am is because of this party,” he told the host.

Harrison is a registered lobbyist at the Podesta Group, a powerful D.C.-based lobbying firm. In the past, he’s lobbied for clients including Wal-Mart and Lockheed Martin.

(Continue Reading)

cjofsw-blog

The only sane choice out of the 3 would be Keith Ellison. I would of liked to see Tulsi Gabbard or Nina Turner in the running.

berniesrevolution

Bernie tonight beginning to speak to anti -DApipeline protesters!

cjofsw-blog

He should of been elected President, but just maybe he’ll be able to bring even more attention to urgent issues that truly matter because he had ran. THANK YOU #BernieSanders for all you do!