SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
In Defense of Bernie, In Defense of Democracy: The Ironic Case for Hillary Clinton
Nov 04, 2016
During the course of the 2016 Primary Season, millions of Americans fell in love with Bernard Sanders, the angry, outspoken, yet likeable leftist U.S. Senator from Vermont. His temperament, his rejection of the corporate run state, and the genuine nature of his unprecedented rise to political fame created a "cult of personality" around him. Somewhere along the line, people forgot that Bernie's "Political Revolution" was never about him. It is about you. It is about his grandchildren. It is about the future of human existence in a democratic society. It is about the people who have never had a voice in this corrupt system fueled by profits and propaganda. Not for a single minute was it about him, which is the very reason why he has achieved a status and level of respect that Clinton and Trump can only dream about. Donald and Hillary both want to be President, but Bernie wants us to be President.
With his "loss" in a primary filled with DNC establishment led corruption against the Sanders camp, it would logically make sense for him to feel cheated and have some real contempt, if not hatred, for "Secretary Clinton". If you watched the debates, that contempt does exist ("excuse me, I'm talking!"). So why would Bernie "sell his soul" by supporting Clinton, making him appear as a fraud to the "Bernie or Bust" crowd? The answer is simple: He is swallowing his pride and compromising his integrity for your future. Real grassroots democracy and the Political Revolution, ironically, depends on the election of Hillary Clinton and progressive control of the Supreme Court. The "Political Revolution" is not possible as long as money is defined as free speech and the ruling in the Citizen's United vs. FEC Supreme Court case continues to diminish what is left of our democratic institutions.
Sanders has advocated many issues throughout his political career including single-payer healthcare for all, real reform on climate change, taxpayer funded university education, a living wage for working people, and progressive taxation on the ultra rich to alleviate an out-of-control wealth gap. All of these issues have one thing in common: they cannot come to fruition with Citizen's United standing in the way. The relentless influx of money injected into our political system from multinational corporations will thwart all efforts for real progressive reform. With Donald Trump as president, this case will stand for many years to come. If we want to keep our republic, we cannot afford to wait 58 years for the Brown v. Board of Education of our time.
Most mainstream media outlets have made this election into a reality show type of character war between a narcissistic, womanizing demagogue and a power-hungry establishment liberal with questionable ethics. If we look past the rhetoric it is clear that this election is about one thing and one thing only: Control of the Supreme Court. It is the only entity of the U.S. Federal Government that is not locked in constant gridlock and can actually establish policy. It is tempting to stay home on Tuesday, or vote for the courageous Jill Stein, or even the sometimes clueless Gary Johnson, but any vote not cast for Hillary Clinton is a vote for corporatism in the best case scenario and outright fascism in the worst case scenario. More importantly, a vote cast for anyone besides Hillary Clinton is a vote against everything Bernie Sanders has been trying to do for working people of this country for decades. It may be painful, and understandably so, to put that check mark next to her name, but a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for the Political Revolution. If you don't trust me, just ask Dr. Chomsky.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Bruce Potts
Bruce J. Potts is adjunct instructor of History and Political Science at North Central Michigan College.
During the course of the 2016 Primary Season, millions of Americans fell in love with Bernard Sanders, the angry, outspoken, yet likeable leftist U.S. Senator from Vermont. His temperament, his rejection of the corporate run state, and the genuine nature of his unprecedented rise to political fame created a "cult of personality" around him. Somewhere along the line, people forgot that Bernie's "Political Revolution" was never about him. It is about you. It is about his grandchildren. It is about the future of human existence in a democratic society. It is about the people who have never had a voice in this corrupt system fueled by profits and propaganda. Not for a single minute was it about him, which is the very reason why he has achieved a status and level of respect that Clinton and Trump can only dream about. Donald and Hillary both want to be President, but Bernie wants us to be President.
With his "loss" in a primary filled with DNC establishment led corruption against the Sanders camp, it would logically make sense for him to feel cheated and have some real contempt, if not hatred, for "Secretary Clinton". If you watched the debates, that contempt does exist ("excuse me, I'm talking!"). So why would Bernie "sell his soul" by supporting Clinton, making him appear as a fraud to the "Bernie or Bust" crowd? The answer is simple: He is swallowing his pride and compromising his integrity for your future. Real grassroots democracy and the Political Revolution, ironically, depends on the election of Hillary Clinton and progressive control of the Supreme Court. The "Political Revolution" is not possible as long as money is defined as free speech and the ruling in the Citizen's United vs. FEC Supreme Court case continues to diminish what is left of our democratic institutions.
Sanders has advocated many issues throughout his political career including single-payer healthcare for all, real reform on climate change, taxpayer funded university education, a living wage for working people, and progressive taxation on the ultra rich to alleviate an out-of-control wealth gap. All of these issues have one thing in common: they cannot come to fruition with Citizen's United standing in the way. The relentless influx of money injected into our political system from multinational corporations will thwart all efforts for real progressive reform. With Donald Trump as president, this case will stand for many years to come. If we want to keep our republic, we cannot afford to wait 58 years for the Brown v. Board of Education of our time.
Most mainstream media outlets have made this election into a reality show type of character war between a narcissistic, womanizing demagogue and a power-hungry establishment liberal with questionable ethics. If we look past the rhetoric it is clear that this election is about one thing and one thing only: Control of the Supreme Court. It is the only entity of the U.S. Federal Government that is not locked in constant gridlock and can actually establish policy. It is tempting to stay home on Tuesday, or vote for the courageous Jill Stein, or even the sometimes clueless Gary Johnson, but any vote not cast for Hillary Clinton is a vote for corporatism in the best case scenario and outright fascism in the worst case scenario. More importantly, a vote cast for anyone besides Hillary Clinton is a vote against everything Bernie Sanders has been trying to do for working people of this country for decades. It may be painful, and understandably so, to put that check mark next to her name, but a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for the Political Revolution. If you don't trust me, just ask Dr. Chomsky.
Bruce Potts
Bruce J. Potts is adjunct instructor of History and Political Science at North Central Michigan College.
During the course of the 2016 Primary Season, millions of Americans fell in love with Bernard Sanders, the angry, outspoken, yet likeable leftist U.S. Senator from Vermont. His temperament, his rejection of the corporate run state, and the genuine nature of his unprecedented rise to political fame created a "cult of personality" around him. Somewhere along the line, people forgot that Bernie's "Political Revolution" was never about him. It is about you. It is about his grandchildren. It is about the future of human existence in a democratic society. It is about the people who have never had a voice in this corrupt system fueled by profits and propaganda. Not for a single minute was it about him, which is the very reason why he has achieved a status and level of respect that Clinton and Trump can only dream about. Donald and Hillary both want to be President, but Bernie wants us to be President.
With his "loss" in a primary filled with DNC establishment led corruption against the Sanders camp, it would logically make sense for him to feel cheated and have some real contempt, if not hatred, for "Secretary Clinton". If you watched the debates, that contempt does exist ("excuse me, I'm talking!"). So why would Bernie "sell his soul" by supporting Clinton, making him appear as a fraud to the "Bernie or Bust" crowd? The answer is simple: He is swallowing his pride and compromising his integrity for your future. Real grassroots democracy and the Political Revolution, ironically, depends on the election of Hillary Clinton and progressive control of the Supreme Court. The "Political Revolution" is not possible as long as money is defined as free speech and the ruling in the Citizen's United vs. FEC Supreme Court case continues to diminish what is left of our democratic institutions.
Sanders has advocated many issues throughout his political career including single-payer healthcare for all, real reform on climate change, taxpayer funded university education, a living wage for working people, and progressive taxation on the ultra rich to alleviate an out-of-control wealth gap. All of these issues have one thing in common: they cannot come to fruition with Citizen's United standing in the way. The relentless influx of money injected into our political system from multinational corporations will thwart all efforts for real progressive reform. With Donald Trump as president, this case will stand for many years to come. If we want to keep our republic, we cannot afford to wait 58 years for the Brown v. Board of Education of our time.
Most mainstream media outlets have made this election into a reality show type of character war between a narcissistic, womanizing demagogue and a power-hungry establishment liberal with questionable ethics. If we look past the rhetoric it is clear that this election is about one thing and one thing only: Control of the Supreme Court. It is the only entity of the U.S. Federal Government that is not locked in constant gridlock and can actually establish policy. It is tempting to stay home on Tuesday, or vote for the courageous Jill Stein, or even the sometimes clueless Gary Johnson, but any vote not cast for Hillary Clinton is a vote for corporatism in the best case scenario and outright fascism in the worst case scenario. More importantly, a vote cast for anyone besides Hillary Clinton is a vote against everything Bernie Sanders has been trying to do for working people of this country for decades. It may be painful, and understandably so, to put that check mark next to her name, but a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for the Political Revolution. If you don't trust me, just ask Dr. Chomsky.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.