When a Sanders delegate to a state convention

[MineralMan]

shouts out that Barbara Boxer is a "bitch" as she is speaking to the convention, there's something terribly wrong happening.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511966047

It's not a "difference" in the Democratic Party or a "disagreement." It's just ugly crap being hurled at someone who has been a strong progressive leader for a very long time and a Senator who has served with great honor.

Becoming a state convention delegate is not easy. You don't just volunteer. You are elected at lower-level conventions to be a delegate to the state convention. I know, because I've tried and failed to be elected to my own state's convention a couple of times, and I've been active in party organization activities for quite some time.

When a state convention delegate shouts, "Who gives a shit, bitch?" at Barbara Boxer as she addresses that convention, a terrible mistake has been made in selecting that delegate. That delegate is not a Democrat, really. He is a pretender. Democrats honor their long-term leaders and do not call them ugly misogynistic names.

I'm deeply offended by such behavior, and know that it will simply result in superdelegates already planning to vote for Clinton at the national convention doing just that, pretty much no matter what. The man who shouted that should have been escorted off the convention floor by the Sergeant at Arms and his delegate status revoked. An alternate could replace him.

There is no room in our system for selecting presidential nominees for such heinous behavior at a state convention. None at all.

That's my opinion. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

[uppityperson]

1. Nobody should be using that language, no matter whom they support.

[Agschmid]

28. +1

[pmorlan1]

2. Curious

Just out of curiosity what did you think about what Sen. Boxer said in her words to the convention?

[MineralMan]

4. I haven't listened to them. Do you think they justified

her being called a "bitch?" I can't imagine anything she might have said that would justify that. So, what do you think of what she said, and why it justified such name-calling? I'll wait here.

[pmorlan1]

34. My thoughts

I don't think calling her a bitch was appropriate. I sure wouldn't have done it but sadly sometimes frustration and emotion take over and people do dumb things. I didn't notice in the video I watched that someone did this (not saying they didn't) because I was more focused on what Boxer was saying. I'll have to watch again to see if I can hear this but no, I don't think calling her a bitch is appropriate. Booing her I agree with but calling her a bitch - no. I would most certainly not condone that behavior.

I was, however, stunned by some of the things Boxer said which is why I asked you about what you thought (purely from a political standpoint). I really thought she was politically tone deaf in this case. This was a delegate convention in Vegas not the convention in Philly after the nomination process was completed. One would expect her to make glowing remarks about Hillary in Vegas because after all she supports her. I'm not surprised by that or offended in any way. What I didn't expect to hear was her dismissive tone to all of the Sanders delegates and the fact that she pretty much told them their votes didn't matter because Hillary was the nominee and they needed to get behind her. She is in fact not the nominee YET, which is why I wondered why she would take that approach and deliberately antagonize people who were already upset about what they felt was an unfair process (not arguing about whether it was or was not - just saying that was how the crowd felt).

From a political standpoint I'm wondering why a surrogate would deliberately antagonize people who, if you think your candidate will be the nominee, you need behind you in November? It just seemed to me to be a dumb thing to do for such a political pro like Boxer. It was hyper-partisan in the wrong place. I was actually very surprised she did it. I hope her remarks were not prepared remarks and that they were only said in the heat of the moment. As I said earlier sometimes people do dumb things out of frustration. Do you think that is what happened here or do you think her remarks were appropriate?

Anyway, if you get a chance, listen to her remarks and let me know what you think. In all likelihood we will probably disagree because we usually do but I would at least like to hear your view.

[LisaM]

22. She called for civility and said that Bernie Sanders was her friend.

I listened to the clip. She pretty much got booed for mentioning Hillary, you know, the actual winner of the Nevada caucus. I guess we'll see how much of a friend of hers Bernie Sanders really is and if he'll address this at all.

[virtualobserver]

3. Should superdelegates vote for Bernie instead of Hillary because of Hillary supporter Wendell Pierce

‘Wire’ star Wendell Pierce arrested for attacking Bernie Sanders supporters in Atlanta hotel

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/wire-star-wendell-pierce-arrested-for-attacking-bernie-sanders-supporters-in-atlanta-hotel/

[MineralMan]

5. I think that was not on a state convention floor, and the

arrest was justified. The venue matters. It truly does. The man was arrested, and is not a convention delegate as far as I know.

The two situations are not equivalent in any way.

[virtualobserver]

8. Your assertion that the words of one delegate should influence how supers should vote is absurd

The venue is irrelevant.

[MineralMan]

10. I did not say that it should. I did say that it might, however.

What I said in the OP is that the person who did that should have had his credentials pulled and have been replaced by an alternate delegate, once he was expelled from the convention floor.

I'm not a superdelegate, and I don't know how superdelegates will react. I can imagine that Barbara Boxer is unlikely to change her vote at the convention, though. I can imagine that she was pretty offended by that shout, don't you? I have no doubt that there were other superdelegates from Nevada at that convention, too. I'll bet they were pissed off at the treatment of Senator Boxer as well. I sure was.

The venue is not irrelevant. State conventions are where the business of the Democratic Party is conducted and where delegates to the national convention are selected. It's a pretty important venue, really, despite Nevada having a small delegation to the national convention.

Decorum is part of such venues, as a rule.

[azurnoir]

6. Hillary person screeching FU bi*ch at Bernie supporter - yep that's some ugly stuff

[MineralMan]

7. Not in any way equivalent.

I think it was very rude, though, and if I had been there, I would have said so. But, it's not at all the same thing. Truly.

[azurnoir]

9. oh okay so when it's one of the little people it's just not as important or is it when it's a Bernie

supporter getting screeched at?

[silvershadow]

15. They are just trying to misdirect from the real story- namely that

the convention stole the state from Bernie. Notice the news media is completely silent today on it. Watch for any stories on Monday (if there are any) to whitewash the whole debacle, and slant the entire story against Bernie.

On the other hand, we should have a YUGE Tuesday.

[azurnoir]

17. of course the media is silent, why do you think these shenanigans are pulled on a Saturday?

[silvershadow]

21. Probably the same reason DWS, in collusion with the HRC campaign,

finally scheduled the few actual debates on weekends, only under duress.

[annavictorious]

19. Oh please

you know that's a distortion. You've gone beyond ridiculous.

Some people tried to hijack the process yesterday and failed.
You're failing at hijacking the OP as well.

No it's not OK to call women bitches and whores in public or in private.
When partisans do it publicly, they can expect to get called out. It's a particularly bad type of a particularly bad behavior.

[procon]

33. Off topic Bernie spam?

How about actually commenting on the topic at hand. If you are that bereft of thought on this subect, start your own thread or a nice blog and write your lovelorn odes to Bernie elsewhere.

[annavictorious]

11. Thanks for sharing this

and for calling out those who are trying to hijack the process.

[KingFlorez]

12. She didn't endorse Sanders, so names are fair game

Anyone who didn't jump aboard is campaign is considered to be a horrible person. It's pathetic.

[CorkySt.Clair]

30. When you believe you're going to get "free everything"

And you see people who you think are standing in the way of "free everything"'people become irrational. That's what we saw in NV. A bunch of entitled whiners coming down off the "free everything" sugar high they've been on for months.

[Bobbie Jo]

13. That's my opinion too.

This kind of viscous behavior is what we've come to expect.

Makes me sick.

[annavictorious]

27. Sanders partisans should have started their own party

if they weren't willing to play by Democratic party rules. Those who temporarily joined a party to exploit its resources should have researched the rules more carefully. Nobody feels sorry for them. Nobody thinks they're the good guys.

I've been hearing some talk about stealing the Green Party candidacy from Jill Stein for Bernie Sanders when he finally faces the reality of his loss. This sense of ruthless, aggrieved entitlement is ridiculous.

[floriduck]

14. I agree. At least that rude person is not a candidate.

So why is this OP relevant to the GD group? Neither Boxer or the moron are candidates.

[MineralMan]

18. The Nevada State Democratic Convention is directly

connected to the primary election. For pete's sake! It's a Democratic Primary topic. But go ahead and alert on it and see what the Hosts do....

[floriduck]

20. I don't alert. I just dislike blame by association. That's all you intended and it's

low class. I thought you were above that sort of Brockish move. Guess not.

[MineralMan]

23. You're welcome to your opinion.

[floriduck]

24. I trust mine. You? Not so much.

[floriduck]

25. Does the name Wendell Pierce ring a bell?

[mcar]

16. You are absolutely right, MM

[kerry-is-my-prez]

26. Lots of women being called bitches nowadays. Surprising that supposed progressives are doing it.

It's very disheartening to see this. I have never seen this kind of aggression directed towards male candidates.

[Demsrule86]

29. I agree

I say Bernie supporters looked really bad last night and probably lost California because of their bad behavior...

[annavictorious]

31. I live in NY

and the entire mood changed here when Dr. Paul Song threw down the "whore" gauntlet to the cheers of the bots, the bratz, and the bros in Washington Square Park.

It was the beginning of the end for Sanders in NY. The money dried up pretty quickly.

[Punkingal]

35. Bernie is called an "old man" on here every damn day.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. A guy acted like a rude asshole.

He shouldn't have behaved that way, and all party organizations have the right to deal with that sort of behavior as they see fit. However, this is not fainting-couch material and it's not evidence of anything except that one guy with anger management issues and a nasty mouth was elected to be a delegate. It's most likely that the people who elected him didn't know he had a short fuse, since more often than not people don't know the delegates they elect. So - BFD. They can kick him out, reprimand him, tar and feather him, make him wear a sign that says "I AM A RUDE ASSHOLE." Whatever. But somehow the Republic will survive, just as Great Britain has survived hundreds of years of much ruder comments during the Prime Minister's Questions. Assholery among members of Parliament is common, and yet although Britannia no longer rules the waves it's still getting along at least well as we are.

The current prime minister has proven particularly inventive at the insults, branding Corbyn's predecessor Ed Miliband a "complete mug" and former Labour shadow cabinet minister Ed Balls both a "muttering idiot" and "the most annoying person in modern politics." Miliband got his own shots in, too, calling Cameron "the dunce of Downing Street" among other, less cutting, insults.

There have been scores of other inventive abuses over the years. In 2013, former transport minister Simon Burns was reprimanded after being reported to have mouthed “stupid, sanctimonious dwarf" to diminutive House of Commons Speaker John Bercow (he later apologized to dwarves). In 2010, Labour MP Tom Watson shouted across the room to his Conservative colleague Michael Gove, "You're a miserable pipsqueak of a man." British Prime Minister John Major suggested his then-rival, Tony Blair, was a "dimwit" in 1995, while Blair later told Major he was the "weakest link." In the 1980s, Labour MP Tony Banks said Margaret Thatcher was acting "with the sensitivity of a sex-starved boa-constrictor," while MP Dennis Skinner called one of his rivals a "pompous sod" (and then offered to retract the word pompous, but not sod).

Insults in Parliament go back a long, long way. One (possibly apocryphal) story suggests that Benjamin Disraeli, the famously quick-witted politician of the Victorian era, once told Parliament that half of the cabinet were asses. When asked to withdraw his comment by the speaker of the House, Disraeli supposedly responded: "Mr. Speaker, I withdraw. Half the cabinet are not asses."

So do you think can we survive a bit of invective without all kinds of huffery puffery, howls of outrage at being offended, and predictions of doom?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/25/the-petty-mean-and-deliciously-rude-ways-british-politicians-insult-one-another/

[Gothmog]

36. Agreed

The conduct of the Sanders supprter is sad

[Alfresco]

37. K&R