It may be the ultimate expression of our overheated politics. Longtime DNC member Bob Mulholland accused a Sanders supporter of being a possible Russian stooge after she attended a meeting of the Democratic National Committee to discuss rules and bylaws. It appears that anyone can now be denounced as Russian collaborators in an environment that is increasingly picking up McCarthyite elements. The bizarre allegation from Mulholland comes after the DNC moved to effectively block Sanders from the next presidential primary unless he registers as a Democrat. The effort was later abandoned, but left bad memories of the last primary where the DNC was shown to have secretly rigged the process for Hillary Clinton.
Selina Vickers traveled from West Virginia to film the meeting. Many Sanders supporters believe that the Democratic establishment is again working to rig the primacy. Once she got to Rhode Island, however, Mulholland asked whether Sanders was being paid for by Russians. He opined on whether “someone is picking up her expenses” as an example of how “the Putin operation is still active.”
Mulholland later admitted that he has absolutely no evidence to support his suspicions of Vickers. He admitted that he simply knew that she had supported Jill Stein’s Green Party presidential bid in 2016. He said “She was just a symbol, to me, of what has been happening.” The problem is that Vickers is not a symbol but a person and the accusation is highly insulting and stigmatizing. If Mulholland has no evidence, his statements are reckless and wrong. They speak loudly to Sanders supporters about the continued animosity of the Democratic establishment.
Even when told how Vickers scrimped and saved for the trip, Mulholland was not satisfied and responded “That convinces me that somebody’s picking up her tab . . . I’m always skeptical of these people whose agenda is not in the Democratic Party’s interest.”
Many would disagree what is in the best interest of the Democratic Party when DNC officials are accusing activists of being Russian stooges without a shred of evidence. If the DNC intends to follow this approach of rooting out Russian collaborators, it should study the last such effort:
In 1963 Bernie and wife honeymooned in Soviet Cold War Russia and thought it a wonderful place. Suspicions, even without the motivations of the DNC to trash Bernie, are not surprising. A leopard does not change it’s spots.
Bernie wasn’t married in 1963. He was briefly married ca. 1965, but he and his wife didn’t have two nickels to rub together. (By some accounts, his failure as a provider is why she hit the road). The visit to the USSR was part of a sister cities boondoggle a generation later. Sanders had pacifist and Trotskyist sympathies. Such people were marginally less likely than common-and-garden leftists to favor the other side in the Cold War (though it was quite normal during the late Cold War period for leftoids to be emotionally on the other side, usually expressed in polemics favoring Third World reds).
So many words, so little information in the comments.
In your case, so little words, and nothing… ??? “Feelings,” maybe?
It is a mark, reminding me not to read further.
David Benson still owes me two citations after three weeks, one of them from the OED. – and you do not add anything to the commentary that is worth reading. You are getting like Marky Mark Mark, a hit-and-run insulter who does not add to the conversation.
Who asked you?
David Benson still owes me two citations and a quotation after three weeks, one of them from the OED. – you asked me when you first decided not to give me the first citation.
Um, the same person who asked you?
The Dems and the Gophers are all loafers.
BERNIE SANDERS WAITED 50 YEARS TO JOIN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
THEN HE EXPECTED THE NOMINATION ONLY WEEKS AFTER HE JOINED!
Bernie Sanders is the biggest whiner in recent political history. And his whining has been validated by a coalition of Trumpers and genuine leftists. I say ‘genuine’ leftists because Trumpers routinely label every Democrat a ‘leftist’. So the term ‘leftist’ has lost it’s original meaning. But in the case of Bernie Bros, these leftists are, for the most part, hostile to the Democratic party. People who think the party is ‘too conservative’!
During the 2016 campaign, my Facebook stream was disproportionately represented by Bernie Bros. So I had an entire year to read their memes and comments. To a large extent they were people who never followed politics. They kept insisting there was ‘no difference’ between the two major parties. Like Republicans and Democrats are essentially the ‘same’. A premise that few Republicans would accept.
The Bernie Bros on my Facebook stream kept constantly posting memes from Russian trolls. Memes that were totally irrational! Memes that claimed, for instance that Bernie ‘marched with Doctor M.L. King when Hillary supported Goldwater’. Never mind that Hillary was barely 17 on Election Day 1964 while Bernie was 23. There were also memes that claimed the Clintons had been members of the KKK.
One of the stupidest memes the Bernie Bros kept posting featured a photo of a May Day parade in Havana Cuba. It looked like every resident of Havana was there. Yet the meme’s caption claimed that it was a parade of Sanders supporters in California. ‘And the mainstream media covered up by not reporting it’!!
The mainstream media, in fact, widely reported irregularities concerning the Arizona Primary. Republicans who ran that state’s election system made a point of shuffling polling stations in Hispanic districts of Phoenix. Much confusion resulted. Not only had the polling stations been switched but the new locations were cramped and inhospitable resulting in long lines outside. Yet Bernie Sanders had the audacity to blame Hillary Clinton for those lines! And that charge stuck among the Bernie Bros.
During the New York Primary there was some problem in Brooklyn where a number of newly registered voters had trouble obtaining ballots. It might well have been one of those Election Day snafus that occur in big cities. Yet the Sanders campaign charged, with no proof whatsoever, that Hillary had rigged the New York Primary. And again, that charge stuck among the Bernie Bros. But no election commission ever determined what the problem had been in Brooklyn. Nor could anyone say those newly registered voters were all Sanders supporters. It was just an assumption!
After the California Primary, some bogus ‘commission’ with a grand-sounding name issued a ‘report’ claiming Hillary had ‘rigged’ the primaries. The report was primarily intended for ‘alternative news sites’. But even the liberal “Daily Kos” dismissed the report as lacking any credence. The report had been prepared by an obscure group of Bernie Bros in Brooklyn whose names were not known to any mainstream journalists. Yet Bernie Bros believed that report was a validation of all their claims.
This brings us to the hacked DNC emails that purportedly show party insiders preferred Hillary to Bernie. Well of course! Bernie had never been a Democrat. The party had no obligation to roll over and let an outsider take over. THOUGH REPUBLICANS DID EXACTLY THAT.
Much has been made of the super-delegates and how ‘unfair’ that system is. Those super-delegates are primarily Democratic office holders. They are also a diverse group that includes 296 women, 145 Blacks, 77 Hispanics and 21 Asians. Republican delegates are nowhere near that diverse. Those super-delegates had a rightful say regarding ‘who’ they wanted on the Democratic slate. And they didn’t want an outsider!
Shortly after the general election, Bernie dropped his Democratic affiliation and reverted to his former status as an Independent. That’s fine with Vermont. But it goes to show that Bernie was ‘never’ a Democrat. Yet he keeps hinting he might run as a Democrat in 2020. And one should note that Bernie will be 79 years old on Election Day 2020. If Sanders were elected and served two terms, he would be 87 at the end of his second. ‘If’ he lives that long! Though most seniors are dead or feeble by that age.
What nonsense. Sanders hasn’t whined at all. It’s the Clintonites who destroyed the Democratic Party that keep whining and looking for scapegoats instead of admitting they ran the worst campaign in history with the most unpopular candidate Democrats have ever nominated. What could go wrong? The great thing about it is that the more you and others attempt to smear Sanders and lie about him and his supporters the stronger his support grows. So please, by all means, keep it up so Sanders can cruise easily to victory in the primaries and then be elected President in 2020. Please. I’m not kidding. Keep it up.
He’ll be 79 years old in 2020. Ain’t gonna happen.
Horuss – Bernie got screwed, he knew he was getting screwed, he paid to get screwed and then after he was thoroughly screwed he stumped for Hillary. I have no respect for Bernie.
Paul, look at Bernie’s face after he met with Obama.- something changed – who knows what he was threatened with. That being said, yeah, I can’t go for Bernie so long as he keeps up the Establishment Dem talking points ie Russia Russia Russia. He has also refused to come on the Jimmy Dore show which is telling.
Horuss:
Sanders slate of candidates didn’t do that well last week. So I don’t know why you think they’re ‘growing stronger’. And why would America want an 80-something President?? It would take only a stroke or heart attack to plunge the White House into chaos. To be honest, I thought Hillary was too old. But she is younger than Bernie by 6 years; which is significant in senior years.
Very ageist PH. There are plenty of older people who have more intellectual prowess as well as physical energy than those decades younger – have you looked at the obesity of the young these days?
Peter Hill – elections in Arizona are not run at the state level but at the county level of which there are 15. Maricopa Co. is one of the largest counties in the United States, larger than a few states and they have to find places for voting all the time. The schools no longer allow it, so they usually have to depend on the churches to lend them space. They estimate the turnout and then figure how many places they will need based on that. If turnout is higher than expected, they are screwed.
There were long lines all over the county, not just Hispanic areas, also Black areas and White areas. It is an elected position and that person is no longer in office.
I think what you’re saying is that incompetence and disorganization are bog standard in Arizona. Does that make this better or worse?
Maybe you can appoint Judge Sherry Stephens Grand Poobah of Elections Administration in Arizona. I’m sure she’ll bring the same standard of professionalism she displayed in the Jodi Arias trial and you’ll have everything sorted in a brisk 27 months.
DSS – that was the first time in some time that we had had problems with lines at the elections, so we took care of the problem at the next election. Judges are selected by a supposedly neutral panel in Maricopa and Pima Co. then the top three names are given to the governor who selects one to appoint. After that, they run for retention, yes or no. If it is no, the panel goes to work again.
Judges are selected by a supposedly neutral panel in Maricopa and Pima Co.
I.e. judges are selected by Bar Association bores.
DDS – https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/media/1309/meritselect.pdf
Paul:
Yeah, I know about Maricopa’s size. Arizona and Nevada are two states where most of the population is concentrated in one county.
In any event your comments suggest that Hillary was not in any position to rearrange polling sites.
Peter Hill – the Democratic primary is run by the party, I have no idea what they do. They did select all of their candidates behind closed doors in 2016, except for the Presidential primary.
HRC sucked (sucks) 0 enthusiasm and hatred as well given her lousy record. DNC rigged – gave questions, tossed votors off rolls (Brooklyn, etc.), cut number of “debates” because everytime that witch spoke her numbers went down, media totally behind her – Wash Compost 16 negative articles in 16 hours….. I could go on and on, but hell independents and anyone who paid attention knows it and remembers. So, is she gonna give the money back she funneled illegally into her “victory fund”
The Democratic party has made their “rules” and regulations perfectly clear during a lawsuit, in open court, with Jared and Elizabeth Beck who represent Sanders supporters in the 2016 election. Here is just one part of their claim in the suit: “Later in the hearing, attorneys representing the DNC claim that the Democratic National Committee would be well within their rights to “go into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way.”
http://observer.com/2017/05/dnc-lawsuit-presidential-primaries-bernie-sanders-supporters/
Their other, equally appalling “arguments” are contained in the link above. There really aren’t any questions to ask. The answers have been given, loudly and clearly. Nevertheless Ms. Vickers had every right to ask the questions and challenge these “rules”. That raising questions is considered evidence of not having the best interest of the Democratic party and further, is considered proof of being a Putin Stooge is both bizarre and dangerous.
It is also demeaning. He is basically saying that anyone who has questions could not have possibly formulated those questions in their own mind, due to what they see happening in their party. No, people are much too stupid for that!!! They will only have questions if Putin has told them: 1. to have questions and 2. what those questions will be. He was also quite demeaning in saying that she was not a person, but a symbol.
From everything I have seen, Democrats have used this type of propaganda to shut people up. It is designed to shut down thought, close off observation of reality, and is a way to stop criticism of the powerful. It has been remarkably effective. This propaganda will keep working until enough people stand together to stop it.
In practical terms this means we the people must start doing careful, reality based analysis of this govt., private corporations and the parties/candidates which serve them both. Calling someone a Putin stooge has replaced real arguments. I have noticed that people who use this technique cannot give actual counter arguments to what you are saying. They can only make dark references to Putin, Russia and treason. Well, if it’s Putin, Russia and treason, let’s see some actual evidence!
Next, Muholland shows another aspect of a power worshipping lackey in that there can be no actual evidence provided which will satisfy him. It is possible to check how Vickers got her money. Yet this evidence is simply turned on its head as “evidence” that clearly, unseen forces are at work for evil!!! Well o.k. then. Evidence doesn’t matter! That’s a real scary place to be in society.
I would also like to know how he had all this information on Vickers. Did she provide it or is the DNC doing dossiers on people? If so, who are they hireing to do that work and have they let everyone know they are going to be “researched”.
The way out is to unite as people with intergrity. Real arguments. Real examination of claims and counter claims. No personal attacks. Get to the bottom of things, especially when the powerful are doing their various machinations.
Very good post Jill.
I have noticed that people who use this technique cannot give actual counter arguments to what you are saying. They can only make dark references to Putin, Russia and treason.
You see evidence of that technique right here in this blog. If you dare question their claims and ask for the evidence, all of a sudden you are alleged to be getting talking points from Hannity, FoxNews, Breitbart, etc.
Rational thought and reasonable debate are gone with many on the Left.
Thanks Olly. I’ve been called a Putin stooge and accused of treason many times! While part of me thinks this is hilarious, another part of me knows that this type of BS has real consequences.
I have actually met several people from Russia visiting the US recently. They have been reluctant to say they were from Russia until they knew it was safe to say that. They have also been attacked by Democrats just for being from Russia. These Dems ask unbelievable questions such as, why are they here in our country (along with all the Europeans) This is a tourist area! Figure it out!!! OMG people from Russia actually thought they had a right to visit the US!
Many Democrats are terrified of even talking to a Russian because they don’t trust they could listen to them and not be pursuaded to believe in The Easter Bunny if a Russian told them to believe. Gads, I would hope people would have a little more faith in their own ability to reason than that!
I think you made some excellent points in your posts as well!
Good stuff, guys…
Thank you both.
Jillesky,
always a pleasure to read your posts
In solidarity
your comrade Autumnisnky
PS Jill, Elizabeth Beck voted for Trump in the GE after Bernie was screwed. Even though she’d had a run with the Donald during a lawsuit living in Florida (apparently he thinks women pumping breast milk are gross) she felt compelled to defeat HRC.
Ha-I am not fooled by you, Putin stooge! You are really Autumnovavich, not Autumnisnky!
Seriously, that’s really interesting about Beck. It’s amazing in some ways, in other ways, it’s not. If you were only the real Autumnovavich I would compliment your posts as well! But I know better!!!!
BTW, that is revelatory that Bernie wouldn’t go on the Jimmy Dore show. Dore is a huge supporter of Bernie. I wonder if he still is???
I would never trust Bernie. He showed who he was when he failed to defend his donors/voters’ rights after they were defrauded.
That’s his place in the Dem food chain this time around. Bring in the “left” part of the Democratic base, pump them up, then feed them to the wolves.
Jill, Jimmy Dore, Ron Placone. Jamarl Thomas and many other authentic Progressives are calling out Bernie. They are not blind — unlike say Cenk and others who are bought and owned – junior Rachel MadCow wannabees.. Question is who can we get behind?
Autumn,
I think we should get behind each other. We need a people’s movement. I think we keep looking for a leader when what we really need is multiple, local leaders and people willing to work together for a common good.
I don’t see much hope in the political process. It seems too corrupted to work. There are things that need doing and we should just get together and do them. That’s my conclusion. What do you think is the best course of action?
Bernie mindlessly sought to damage the Democratic Party. Why not be a team player? Take the V.P. slot. Bernie could have infused the party with a wave of youthful voters.
Instead Bernie became a useful idiot to Trump. While Trump is a useful idiot to Putin.
With his claims of rigged election Bernie played right into Trump’s conspiracies.. Which seems inexcusable for a man of Bernie’s intelligence. It’s almost like Bernie was part of Trump’s entire scheme.
I don’t honestly think Bernie was in cahoots with Trump. But he consciously sabotaged the Democrats when he could have been helping.
If you just joined the party, ‘take the V.P. slot”.
Trump might stand for something dreadful while the Democrats stand for nothing at all.
Or, the low-hanging fruit–be it rotten or not.
Ever wonder how many of these stooges are on the bottle? That would be Russian Vodka. Even Sen. Ted Kennedy who was a Scotch drinker, would take a nip of Russian Vodka. R.I.P Ted.
Enjoy the losing streak.
slohrss29 – this video is one that has been enjoyed by Indies –
whoops, damn cut ‘n paste meant to post this one
It’s fascinating to watch a political party gun the engine and turn directly to the rocks. Too bad we need a vibrant opposition or I’d say let ‘em crash.
The problem is, they never quite do crash. The Democratic Party has been careering downhill for 50-odd years now. Instead of crashing, the bottom recedes. Great slogan for them: “The Democratic Party: defining deviancy down since 1962”.
They do need a reform movement but the monied interests like ‘em in their lap so it isn’t likely.
Instead of crashing, the bottom recedes.
That is an excellent observation. As Mespo points out, the monied interests won’t tolerate anything other than pure fidelity to the party. Most of my mother’s side of the family (Northeast) are lifelong democrats and they have simply moved to more and more extreme positions that 20 years ago they opposed. These are good people that will immediately change personalities if a discussion shifts to politics. My high school friends living in Minnesota are nearly unrecognizable if we discuss politics. The DNC controls these folks like they’re one of the pod people in the invasion of the body snatchers. I don’t believe the RNC is a whole lot better; which is why I’m registered Independent.
This is a short article and it makes a very good point about how party politics force a divide among people that otherwise might find common ground.
None of this makes me less depressed about seeing politicians of any stripe flat-out pretend that falsehoods are true or truths are false. But I do find it interesting that, at least in some respects, white, culturally conservative Trump supporters and liberal, minority Trump opponents might have more in common with each other than either group would like to admit. For one thing, both groups prove that even people who are “wrong” can have something important to say, and it would behoove the rest of us to start listening.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/06/politics-and-truth-considering-the-wrong-perspective/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202018-06-12&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives
I disagree with you on one point. I don’t think the Republicans/Conservatives are as bitter and rage-filled as the Democrats. I am NOT saying that many Republican positions aren’t wrong and stupid, but I just don’t see the raw emotionalism in them. Dedication to their cause, yes- but not that primal identification with a political position like the Democrats to the point where the politics are personalized and internalized.
To me, it’s like Holy Rollers and Episcopalians. They both have their Christian belief system, but Episcopalians(Republicans) just don’t roll around in the aisles, flail their arm and legs, and gibber-jabber in Tongues like the Holy Rollers(Democrats).
As J H Kunstler, a liberal-ish Democrat, recently noted, the Democrats are no longer the party of the Thinking Class.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I agree Squeeky.
Squeek:
“I don’t think the Republicans/Conservatives are as bitter and rage-filled as the Democrats.”
*********************
It doesn’t matter. History ‘s Cardinal Rule is that there are winners and there are losers. Good manners are irrelevant to the discussion. Trump needs to win to beat them back from the gates of power; everything else is fluff. As the great philosopher Josey Wales said:
🙂
Figures you’d like the WhiskeyPalians squeek =) I, too, prefer the rites/rituals and BCP over the emotive snakehandlers
Meanwhile, where are the Republicans? You know, the party that used to stand for family values, fiscal conservatism, religion. Family values? The GOP supports a thrice-married man who brags about sexually assaulting women, and who consorts with porn stars. How about fiscal conservatism? Trump’s policies are exponentially expanding the deficit. He has filed multiple business bankruptcies. Religion? Trump lies all the time about almost everything, and yet Hypocrite-in-Chief Mikey Pence stands there, supporting him. Claims he attends a Presbyterian church? Really? People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
There’s also something called redemption. A belief that people can change and redeem themselves.
“The past does not have to define the future. Yesterday’s conflict does not have to be tomorrow’s war.”
– from Trump’s speech at the NK summit in Singapore
We also heard KJU say “we have overcome obstacles and buried the past”…..
Meanwhile, where are the Republicans? You know, the party that used to stand for family values, fiscal conservatism, religion. Family values?
Fed up with attitudinizing from partisan Democrats.
Evangelicals don’t get ideal choices. They optimize among available choices. This is not difficult to understand, but Natacha, being an idiot, persistently fails to understand it. Those of us of a SoCon persuasion have for nearly 40 years received lip service from Republican politicians who then (a la McConnell) sell us down the river at the earliest opportunity. From Trump, we get less lip service and more in the way of actual results.
https://twitter.com/YoungDems4Trump/status/1006521550579757056
Natacha – porn is legal. Pornstars can now have SAG cards and some do. There is porn made specifically for women. Sylvester Stallone gave a part to a major porn star in one of his movies. Stallone made a soft porn feature called The Italian Stallion (ring any bells?). Boogie Nights was a big budget Hollywood movie made about the porn industry and insiders know who was whom. And Trump supposedly went to bed with Stormy Daniels one time (that is not dating). He was looking to put her in a reality series after that. A male porn star was in a reality series, so that makes sense.
You get like half the headline and then you make up stuff from there.
Some trivia for Nutchacha – you do know that our comrade Putin has helped revive the Russian Orthodox church dontcha?
Mespo, what “vibrant opposition” are you talking about? Neo libs and neo cons infect the Dims like the RINOs
That’s true but there are still reasonable folks over there though their ranks are thinning.
Cheesy piece of work. He’s been on the payroll of the California Democratic Party for 20-odd years. Here’s his old blog
https://web.archive.org/web/20071110222701/http://blog01.kintera.com/Bobs/archives/
The Democratic Party gets more and more corrupt and exclusive. They are picking candidates before the primaries and the DCCC are pushing those instead of an open primary. They also want those picked candidates to run to the center (be like Trump) to get elected, then when elected they will be votes for the impeachment of Trump. There is no open tent in the Democratic Party.
Every distinct aspect of the Democratic Party is gross and comical. The Democratic Party is pus – an indicator of collective decay.
Maybe Jonathan Turley is a Russian collaborator?
DNC Member Bob Mulholland should be noted as a Hillary Clinton Superdelegate. These flat earthers are still in denial of how they blew it and blame everyone but their candidate and her- and their – arrogance.
The senior leadership and operatives of the DNC comprise today’s Tammany Hall. Only Democrats will reform their party but the corruption and willing blindness by Democratic leaning citizens perpetuates the corruption, sleaze, and disenfranchisement. I have doubts that an effective reform will be seen in the next decade. The only probable way is for the Democrats to continue to alienate the populous after they’ve had enough and vote for other parties, allowing the political machine of the DNC to founder under its own weight and later infighting.
re: “She was just a symbol, to me, of what has been happening.” Muholland is a symbol of all that’s twisted and corrupt in the DNC. This is why Independents despise the Dem Establishment and call them out every chance we get.