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:
