DNC – Clinton Wrap-up: No Room Under the Tent for Dissent or Activists

Bernie Sanders March, (Philadelphia, PA, 7/24/16)

When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don’t you want somebody to love
Don’t you need somebody to love
Wouldn’t you love somebody to love ~~~ “Somebody to Love” Jefferson Airplane

The picture and the music above say it a lot better than I can in words.

The photo about sums up my feelings – elder legacy and all that jive – it is so loaded with meaning, that it is my favorite shot of the Bernie March and the contrast with the DNC Convention as a whole – from the accordion player to the concept of a moral obligation to future generations.

Old Man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you ~~~ “Old Man” Neil Young

I could write a book about the multiple themes, values, and issues depicted, but will leave all that to the viewer and reader.

We spent this week wading into deep waters, trying to capture some meaning from the TeeVee show that the DNC Convention really is.

Be on my side, or be on your side, baby
There is no reason for you to hide …

This much madness
is too much sorrow
It’s impossible
to make it today. ~~~ “Down By The River” Neil Young

To me, the bottom line is that, first of all, the Democratic Party is incapable of reform – change will only come from Movement politics and civil disobedience that exerts pressure and creates a crisis outside the formal party structure and electoral and governing processes. Think Mario Savio or Dr. King’s idea of “creative tension”. Dr. King wrote:

You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

Second, Bernie Sanders was just not the man for the enormous burden he had to bear.

He did a great job, but catalyzed a movement and political dynamic he was totally unprepared to manage, and he was up against a powerful and corrupt Clinton machine. But still,  he did not have to collapse the way he did, and could have used the power he had far more effectively.

It was more a failure of leadership than vision or moral scruple. I think Chris Hedges was unnecessarily harsh in his personal criticism – Bernie was not a “useful idiot” –  but Hedges is essentially right about squandering the historical moment and the implications going forward.

Third and finally – and I really hope I am proven dead wrong about this – I think the Democrats, by nominating Hillary Clinton, have virtually assured that Trump is the next President.

There seems to be overwhelming evidence to support those conclusions – my notes don’t begin to scratch the surface, particularly of the DNC/Clinton sabotage of the Sanders campaign or the series of insults that went down inside the convention itself – but I think I document some of that evidence in the series of posts, with photos and music:

• Clinton’s VP Pick Is A Climate Disaster
• Thousands March In Philadelphia for Climate, Clean Energy And Bernie Sanders
• My Lunatic Fringe Moment On InfoWars
• Camden NJ and the Democratic Convention
• DNC In Philly Day 2 – Jill Stein Talks To Bernie or Bust
• DNC in Philly Day 3 – Loathing and Dissipation At FDR Park “Philly Awakening”
• DNC – Everybody Knows

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere was a song and a celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bomber jet planes

Riding shotgun in the sky
Turning into butterflies
Above our nation. ~~~ “Woodstock” Joni Mitchell

These drones are not butterflies