July 25, 2016
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Politics (and the economy): ALREADY rigged
I promised I'd next be arguing that "law enforcement" and "Black Lives Matter" activists need to stand side by side, publicly and loudly, in order to quash the wave of "black on cop" and "cop on black" shootings that seem to be engulfing the country. Yeah, it seems to be only three times a week lately (note: possible sarcasm there) but once a year is way more than too much already.
But I'll leave it at that. Partly because I've already said what I need to say, and partly because I want to address the latest hot political news: according to WikiLeaks, Democratic National Committeepersons sent out at least 20,000 internal emails in an attempt to sabotage Bernie Sanders' primary campaign against Hillary Clinton.
Big shock. The system is rigged.
No, it's not a shock. We already knew that politics is rigged, and the economy, too, for that matter. Sanders never had a chance, because of the rigging. That same rigging favored Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in 2008, but Obama had sufficient talent, organizational skills, charisma, and more. Sanders had none of those advantages.
Heck, Sanders isn't (or at least wasn't, until and unless he had to join the party to be eligible for its primaries and caucuses) a Democrat. So complaining that the party was rigged against him seems just a little weird.
Then there's Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I confess there are a few things I like about her. I agree with her on "the issues." And I like that when a reporter asks her a question, she answers it most of the time. And when, like all politicians, she wants to avoid answering, she at least smiles when she gives a stock, canned, phony answer, so that the reporter can give up quickly and move on to something else.
But Debbie is also one of those people who are going to do what they want, regardless of rules. I know that from personal experience. We both went to the 2004 Democratic state convention in Florida. Because there were delegates to the convention in favor of various candidates, the first day of speeches were supposed to be free of favoritism toward any one candidate. Debbie flouted that rule. (And she and I had a personal discussion about the flouting afterward.)
So none of this news about her being behind this latest email scandal surprises me in the least.
(Hillary's not big on obeying rules her own self. But I have to vote for her because she's the only reasonable choice being offered. Voting for a third-party candidate is wasting a vote, especially when the stakes are this high.)
I remain optimistic that the current flap will subside, and that the Democrats will coalesce in Philadelphia this week.
Comments (5)
What a mess this entire election has become -- I fear it will be remembered as the e-mail election!
@slmret: I returned home this afternoon to "breaking news": Debbie will not preside at the convention. Good choice! The possibility of harmony has increased (slightly)
I am surprised to see anyone still posting here on manga. This a shame that it went the way of the dodo bird. I wonder how many have landed on other sites and where they are.
@twoberry: And they announced y'day that she will resign as Chair of the DNC, but not till after the convention. I'm glad they've gone that one step farther. Still -- emails have really hurt the Dems, one way or another!
@slmret: It may be true that the emails will hurt the Dems, but I'm darned if I know why. I guess I'm too cynical, but I believe that all politics is slimy, and all the emails consist of is typical political slime. Plus, I already knew what kind of person Debbie Wasserman Schultz was. But I was foolish enough to think that everyone else knew what I knew. Obviously not. So I suppose you're right. Let's hope the wounds aren't fatal.