The Biggest Threat to Unity is the “Anybody But Bernie” Crowd

An excellent and deeply important article.

Much more than Russia, and part of the same forces that back Trump and corporate republicans and corporate democrats, our greatest threats are right here yelling in our ears day after day about the democratic socialist bogeyman. These are the forces which are hell bent on brainwashing, polarizing, dividing, and distracting us so that we will continue to act against our own best interests and won’t become empowered to unite behind the truth and fight together for a just nation and world.

Wall Street, the fossil fuel industry, the military industrial complex, the insurance and pharmaceutical industry, and other enormous wealthy interests are totally freaking out with How Dare We!?! — How Dare We demand a livable wage, demand an end to endless wars and worldwide militarism, demand a transition off fossil fuels onto renewables, demand to care for the Earth rather than poison her and drive us all right into extinction, demand a healthcare system based on health and care rather than profit and greed, demand humane immigration and justice systems that are humane and just, demand a reversal of the extreme redistribution of wealth upwards and that the wealthy pay their fair share, demand across the board economic, racial, social, and environmental justice. How Dare We demand that America be a true democracy that is of, by, and for the people and the planet rather than an oligarchy, a kleptocracy, a corporatocracy which functions to serve the most wealthy among us while screwing everyone else over. How Dare We!!!

And this is why everyone under the spell of the domination ideology and its patriarchal neoliberal predatory capitalist system is fighting Bernie Sanders in every way possible — because WE ARE UNITING AND DARING TO DEMAND A JUST NATION THAT WORKS FOR ALL.

And this will only happen as we mobilize more than ever before to dismantle the systems of oppression and brutality and violence. And the .1% know it. Which is why they’re throwing Bloomberg at us and even considering Warren and fighting for Anyone But Bernie! They understand that there is a formidable force behind Bernie Sanders and our movements which reflect that we are waking up and won’t take the lies and the injustice and the violence and insanity of the late stage greed and violence and its catastrophic impact on humans, nonhumans, and the Earth any longer! We won’t! We are demanding a New World!

YES, WE ARE WAKING UP. WE ARE STRONG. WE ARE DEMANDING A JUST SOCIETY ROOTED IN COMPASSION AND LOVE AND A REVERENCE FOR ALL OF LIFE. BEHOLD THE POWER OF LOVE! 🙏❤️ Molly

A movement of millions: Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., cheer as he speaks at a campaign event in Tacoma, Wash., Monday, Feb. 17.

BY C.J. ATKINS

Wall Street Democrats’ worst nightmare seems to be coming true: The momentum of a self-declared socialist who threatens to make health care accessible to every American and pledges to combat climate change while creating green, union jobs is looking increasingly unstoppable. Scroll through the Twitter feed of “centrist think tank” Third Way these days and you’ll get the sense that doomsday is fast approaching.

He’s “the definition of unelectable.” Covering everyone’s health care costs through Medicare for All is a “toxic” idea. We have to “beware the ‘pixie dust’” that the way to win is by increasing turnout among people of color and youth. There is “nothing more scary” than nominating a socialist for president.

And who is the angel heralding an impending apocalypse of greater equality and progress? Sen. Bernie Sanders, of course.

Third Way is the place where the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party takes institutional form. In an earlier life, its supporters were known as the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the outfit which dominated policy during the Bill Clinton administration in the 1990s. They’re the ones who brought us “welfare reform,” government downsizing of the liberal variety, the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill, and NAFTA.

A short while ago, Third Way was crowing that “nothing would be more disastrous” than going down the populist path of wealth taxes and bank regulation that was being trumpeted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren. They’re part of the same milieu of big money that has said they’d back Trump before they’ll support the left. But now, with Sanders the undisputed front-runner, all fire is focused on him.

“He has made it his mission to either get the nomination or to remake the party in his image as a democratic socialist. That is an existential threat to the future of the Democratic Party,” Third Way president and co-founder Jon Cowan told The Guardian newspaper recently. Former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville was a bit more explicit when speaking to Politico: “Having him for president of the United States? Are you f*cking kidding me?”

The biggest challenge for the Wall Street Dems, however, has been that there remains no single moderate for them to rally around who really excites all that many people. There is no Bill Clinton equivalent these days. Their great hope to block Bernie, former Vice President Joe Biden, has so far bombed in the early nomination contests. Mayor Pete Buttigieg had a strong showing in Iowa, but given his significant challenges with Black voters who question his past criminal justice and other policies, the road looks tougher as the primaries of bigger, more diverse states approach. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a possibility, but her appeal outside the Midwest is apparently a concern.

Then, it appeared for a moment that one of their own kind, billionaire Mike Bloomberg, might be able to spend enough money to buy his way to the nomination. Sure, he used to be a Republican and has a lot of right-wing political baggage, but at least he’s not a socialist, right? After his disastrous performance at his first primary debate in Nevada, however, the Bloomberg bump may end up being a short-lived one. As desperation sets in would Third Way give even Warren a second look if they think she has a chance to slow Sanders? It would indeed be interesting if Wall Street liberals, for once, were the ones facing the “lesser-evil” dilemma.

Please continue this article here: https://peoplesworld.org/article/the-biggest-threat-to-unity-is-the-anybody-but-bernie-crowd/