There has been considerable publicity about a rally in Seattle over the weekend when just as Bernie Sanders was about to speak, three people associated with the local Black Lives Matters movement took the microphone and prevented him from doing so.
This was the second time that people speaking as members of the BLM movement have prevented Sanders from speaking at events, the previous one being the NetRoots Nation meeting. Questions have been raised as to why they have not tried to do so at the events of other candidates like Hillary Clinton or any of the Republicans, and the merits of this strategy has divided the BLM movement. I don’t know what lies behind it and the reason may be as simple as the fact that the progressive groups that organize events at which Sanders is invited are more likely to give the microphone to BLM voices than (say) a Republican party event, who are more likely to call the police and have them arrested. They may also feel that it is more productive to address their protest message to an ally like Sanders than to waste it on people who will not listen to them. And it may have worked. The Sanders campaign announced on Saturday that it had hired Symone Sanders, described as “a young, black criminal justice advocate” and an activist to serve as its national press secretary.
I have said before that Sanders’s seeming unwillingness to directly address the immediate concerns of minority groups and instead focus on economic inequality that has a devastating but more indirect impact on them may be one reason that he has failed to draw more minorities to his cause and Symone Sanders seems to have made him aware that he needs to broaden his message.
The new press secretary told BuzzFeed that Sanders had already incorporated some of her suggestions on addressing racial issues into his campaign.
“One of my suggestions, he took it and ran with it on ‘Meet the Press,’ is that racial inequality and economic inequality are parallel issues,” she said. “I [told him,] you know, economic equality is an issue. It’s something we need to address. But for some people it doesn’t matter how much money you make, it doesn’t matter where you went to school, it doesn’t matter what your parents do. It doesn’t matter that Sandra Bland had a job and was on her way to teach for her alma mater. It doesn’t matter. None of that matters.”
Sanders went on to have huge rallies later, with 15,000 attending one in Seattle and another 28,000 in Portland, Oregon. Sanders is drawing by far the largest crowds of any candidate and is closing the gap on Hillary Clinton.
So while the media is focused on the Trump circus, Sanders keeps moving steadily ahead.
(You can go to Sanders’s website to join the campaign and contribute and here to see where he stands on the issues. Despite the media trying to paint him as some kind of extremist candidate, a majority of Americans actually support him on most of the issues he stands for.)
…a majority of Americans actually support him on most of the issues he stands for.
Which is why I don’t think Sanders would automatically lose to the Republican candidate if he should win the nomination. If he can successfully make it known that for the first time in a long, long time that he isn’t just the “lesser of two evils,” he can win.
But if he wins the nomination, he still needs the support of African-Americans and Hispanics. Especially with voter suppression policies going into effect in several important states, he (and we) cannot afford African-Americans to be unenthusiastic about his candidacy.
When that woman demanded the crowd and Sanders “Bernie Sanders should apologize for his actions”, it smelled wrong. More ugly part of christianity will reveal itself as Bernie gets more momentum, like how racism of the right revealed blatantly in last 6 years. I don’t think most of the Right’s Good Christians® will embrace a secular Jew and who is also progressive democratic socialist.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2015/08/blm-activist-who-shut-down-sanders-is-radical-christian-sarah-palin-supporter/
Honestly, how some people here justify these knavery, it would be unfair to even tell this to Hillary even though she is the right person to ask that, but #BowDownBernie ?
Something really reeks. Some how a radical christian group demands a secular jew to #BowDownBernie.
https://outsideagitators206.org/blog/seattle-says-bowdownbernie/
http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/259750/blacklivesmatter-has-bowdownbernie-hashtag-daniel-greenfield
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Mahatma Gandhi.
Bernie you will win.
It reached a stage now that Hatred has been unleashed.
It is totally possible like how Republican Establishment wants to get rid of Donald Trump as soon possible, it could be same in the Democratic Establishment. Democratic Establishment doesn’t want Bernie, Barney Frank, Chris Matthews, McCaskil, all liberal pundits, it is very convincing. But please don’t tell me that Democrats wouldn’t do such ugly subterfuge.
The BlackLivesMatter group did rise fracas in SE Portland against Bernie. Democratic Establishment reeks.
Chiroptera @#1,
Actually there is a poll that says that in a head-to-head contest, Sanders would beat Bush, Walker, and Trump.
And here on TV, a openly Hillary supporter tells Bernie is dismissive of BlacksLives
Democratic Establishment and their rats doesn’t want anyone to stop their Queen’s Coronation.
In Same Portland Hillary did a $2700 dinner, no BlackLives protested her. But they protested Bernie Sanders. Thanks George Soros. Democratic Establishment reeks to the core. If Democrats want us to believe Bernie Sanders as Howard Dean, then they should accept that Hillary will be John Kerry.
See, here is the Democratic Establishment speaks.
Mano Singham, #7:
Mano: Trump, Walker, and Bush together don’t have a single head.
They were Clintonistas, working to ruin Sanders’ viability. It is very interesting to note that there have been no such disruptions of Clinton’s or O’Malley’s speeches.
It is blatantly so obvious,
“In the 2008 Democratic primary, 26 different debates were held, six of which when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were the only two candidates participating.”
In 2016 -- Total 6, just frigging SIX. Why ? Democratic establishment want to prevent anyone winning over the coronation of their Queen. Disgusting. There is no F%&$ing difference between Republican and Democratic parties.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/06/democrats-debate-schedule-hillary-clinton
I am f%&$ing pissed at this disgusting party which is pretending to be lesser of two evil. 26 to 6 ? Seriously ?
It’s already started, they will do anything to stop Bernie, particularly after 28,000 people rally.
Reportedly, the BlackLivesMatter group which hijacked the Sanders rally first came into existence three days before the event. One of the organizers supposedly tried and failed to create a fake Palestinian protest group not long before.
None of which tells me enough to decide whether they consist of paid dirty-tricksters or genuine loose cannons, though no doubt the next 16 months [groan] will reveal much.
Assuming they sincerely support BLM, I would give them a thumbs-up had they made their point and then let Sanders & friends continue their rally. Continuing to hog the microphone after the 4.5 minute “moment of silence” they demanded, however, stinks of either deliberate sabotage or runaway egotism.
And that “BowDownBernie” campaign -- something very nasty going on in (some parts of) BlackLivesMatter with that. Would anyone in BLM accept anyone making such a demand of them?