Bernie Sanders can’t afford to stay silent any longer

[RandySF]

Last edited Wed May 18, 2016, 08:44 AM - Edit history (1)

One would think that Sanders, the man who continues to insist he’s the only Democrat who can beat Trump, would speak up forcefully to condemn the actions of his supporters in Nevada. If nothing else, it’s the right thing to do.

Instead, much like Trump when pressed about the violent streak within his ranks, he has largely weaseled out of his responsibility to make it clear to his supporters that this is not acceptable behavior.

The Sanders campaign has been noticeably silent about the events on social media – the main way the candidate communicates with his supporters.

When asked by reporters, his campaign spokesman, Michael Briggs, insists that Sanders does not “condone violence or encourage violence or even threats of violence.” Then in the next breath, his campaign abdicates all responsibility for what happened in Nevada, offers excuses and shifts the blame.

Briggs says the campaign “had no role in encouraging the activity that the party is complaining about.” He even implied to The New York Times that Democratic Party itself is partly responsible for the tense atmosphere because it’s not doing a good enough job of being welcoming to “people who have been energized and excited by (the Sanders) campaign.”

Adding fuel to the conspiracy fire, the campaign still is considering whether to challenge the outcome of the Nevada delegate count.





http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article78199247.html#storylink=cpy

[Ron Green]

1. In extraordinary times, some extraordinary behavior can be understood,

if not entirely forgiven. It's evident there was a great and orchestrated miscarriage of democracy in Nevada, and some eager young people responded boisterously.

The headline ought to be about the provocation, not the response.

[RandySF]

2. "She provoked them."

[brush]

4. Justice actually prevailed despite the foolishness of the caucus system

Clinton won on election day and Sanders' supporters were upset that they weren't allowed to change that outcome.

And what's even more foolish is that it was all over a 1-2 delegate swing, hardly enough to close Clinton's near-300 delegate lead.

What the hell were they thinking?

All of that yelling and screaming and cursing and threatening over 1 or 2 delegates when he needs hundreds.

[dchill]

6. They actually cheated on election day, too.

But I'll bet you knew that.

[brush]

9. You mean the Sanders people?

Because I do happen to know that.

I caucus in Vegas on election day and the Clinton supporters clearly outnumbered the Sanders supporters.

The Sanders people lost on election day, tried to steal it at the country convention and tried again Saturday night.

We need to get rid of silly caucuses (maybe good for small towns in Iowa) but for big metro areas they make little sense as hundreds of thousands of voters don't have time to sit for 3-4 hours to vote when they have to work or go to school.

We need to bring back our primary where people can vote in 10 minutes on their own schedule and the results — the vote count and delegate count — are decided on that day (jsut like Oredgon tonight) instead of the foolish election day caucus, then the country convention then the state convention, all to verify what happened on election day.

Get it done in one day already, election day, and be done with it.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. I agree. The whole nation should actually be vote by mail, like OR is.

But the caucus thing is a joke.

[lapfog_1]

7. Sanders people followed the rules

and gained some delegates post election...

so that makes it OK to now NOT follow the rules, NOT seat all of the Sanders state delegates and, in a set of voice votes worthy of Newt at his finest... award more national delegates to Clinton that she earned.

Yes, Nevada should get rid of the horribly complicated primary system... but Democrats should follow the rules.

[brush]

10. You mean we should get rid of the horribly complicated caucus system, right?

Again, Clinton won on election day.

[lapfog_1]

11. i mean the entire election / caucus / state convention to select delegate by voice vote

or whatever vote the chair person decides to select national delegates.

Have one vote (preferably and open primary but whatever) and let that select the number of delegates awarded to how ever many candidates make the ballot... then let the candidates campaigns choose their own delegates to the national convention.

Sure, this time that would have meant that Hillary won more delegates (like 18 to 17 or something).

Sounds simple doesn't it...

but that wasn't the process in place this time... and what Roberta whats-her-name did in the videos to count the votes and end the meeting before there was a recount I've only seen in local school board meetings when the PTB do NOT want to hear from the majority of parents or citizens who have a issue with the district. It was shameful and undemocratic.

[yardwork]

35. Exactly. Very childish behavior by people who didn't bother to learn how things work.

[uponit7771]

12. Including threatening the kids of the person who's number was posted here on DU? REALLY?! wow...

.... k, again.. Sanders is losing more than just a primary

[MrMickeysMom]

21. Did you get this from the National Inquire?

Again... no real reason to believe anything you say when you do little more than "drive-by" commentary.

[uponit7771]

28. No, the person herself ... but go ahead and with such progressiveness and dismiss this nasty ass'd

... culture of Sanders

[Demsrule86]

18. Absolutely not forgive not understood

Such despicable behavior can't be understood nor forgiven...to call Democratic women...whores, bitches and even yes the C word...after this...hell would freeze over before I would support Sanders. His response was disgusting. I have lost all respect for ty is man.

[MrMickeysMom]

23. Another drive-by commentary. Do you want to incite arguments?

Or, do you have some evidence that the persons who support the other candidate are responsible for this language? It is getting harder to believe these nonsense posts.

I'm sure there are people from both sides who utter those phrases, but whatever you refer to is no different than all those "eye-witnesses" who say they saw chairs thrown, which were not.

A new day, a new utterances that are designed to just make people mad.

[CorporatistNation]

32. Bravo To Those Bernie Supporters In Nevada Who Had Had ENUFF! The Corrupt Tactics By The Hillary

"Team" needed to be confronted and they were. It's the "spin" that is again from HER legion of shill supporters in the media. We are sick of the elderly female apparatchiks steamrolling her candidacy violating rules that they made ... or changing rules on the fly to fit their objectives. That is what Roberta Lange was doing which has been well documented and thankfully these folks did not roll over under these nefarious tactics.

[griffi94]

3. Be kind of hard for Bernie to condemn their actions now.

His bombastic tirades and over the top rhetoric is what set the tone
for his campaign.

He's known for at least a month that he has no chance at the nomination
and yet he kept right on attacking Hillary and the entire Democratic
Party.

He seems to be thinking with his ego.
It's over and he's done.

He's had his 15 minutes and now he doesn't want it to end.

[lapfog_1]

5. please point out the actual violence you speak of

I've watched every video of the event posted and the only thing I saw was a couple of people STANDING on chairs to protest the high handed actions of the chairperson... and one man holding a chair in his hands over his head. no chairs were thrown at anyone, no punches were thrown, no shoving or grabbing. Were people angry... yup... and they had a right to be, voice votes that were, at best, inconclusive and, at worst, decided contrary to the actual vote... no "show of hands" or even better an actual vote.

As for the social media posts of violent threats]... those are horrible and the perpetrators found and charged... but until they are found you can't assert that they are Sanders supporters.

Bernie has nothing to apologize for and every reason to back his supporters and lodge a protest over the results of the convention.

[Demsrule86]

19. Sure everyone

is lying? I don't think so... taped phone calls speak for themselves and are despicable.

[TCJ70]

27. A phone call is not violent...

...but punching a woman in the face is. Which persons supporter did that?

[Demsrule86]

48. They are threatening kids

And are now suing the Nevada DNC...hey they stole the delegates that we stole in April...hahah

[GoneFishin]

51. Any proof at all? How about any video of chairs being thrown? No? I thought so.

[lapfog_1]

44. a threat of violence then

which is bad.

Now kindly prove that Sanders supporters left these messages.

even if you could, it's not the "throwing of chairs and bottles" that was widely circulated but never happened.

[Demsrule86]

45. Come on...this is not a court of law

And of course the Sanders supporters did this...you saw them curse out Dems at the convention...the curse fairy did not visit the DNC delegates...and the Bernie supporters released the phone numbers too. As for the convention, people I respect said they did throw bottles and chairs...why do you suppose the hotel tossed them out? I thought Bernie would be embarrassed but of course ,the campaign higher-ups ordered the entire thing...disgusting.

[John Poet]

50. There WAS no 'actual violence'.

[Ash_F]

8. The only incidence of violence we know of is that actor who bunched those Sanders supporters

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Right, he needs to speak about so if anyone tries to say it's made up- like the "chair throwing"

then HRC people can go "BERNIE HIMSELF SAID IT WAS REAL!"

That's exactly what happened with the "Berniebro" bullshit. Anyone who challenged that obviously manufactured meme was taken back to a blanket condemnation Sanders made of "online bad behavior" without any specific examples.

"See, Sanders himself says BERNIEBROS ARE REAL!"


Is Hillary going to condemn the supporter of hers who actually physically attacked a female Sanders supporter?

When? She can't afford to stay silent any longer.

http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/16/the-wire-star-arrested-for-attacking-a-woman-who-said-she-supports-bernie-sanders/

[AzDar]

15. Please provide proof of chairs being thrown, or bottles... or VIOLENCE by Sanders supporters.

YOU CAN'T. Because there is no proof... This shit NEVER HAPPENED. So please stop posting LIES.

[Surya Gayatri]

33. This post goes for you as well...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511989838#post25

If you don't agree with the "violent streak" statement, take it up with the Sacramento Bee. The quotation is from their editorial pages.

[jillan]

16. Has Hillary said a word about her supporter that was arrested for assaulting 2 Bernie supporters?

I haven't heard a damn thing from her about it.

The only supporters that have been arrested for violence have been Trump and Hillary supporters.

[Demsrule86]

22. the difference

is that Sanders supporters were instructed to 'take over' the Nevada convention...word came from the top...ma bye even Bernie himself...sure hasn't condemned the Nevada debacle. Hillary did not tell anyone to do anything.

[jillan]

54. Punching a young woman in the head is okay with Hillary fans now. Got it.

[jfern]

20. Stop lying. There was no violent streak.

[Surya Gayatri]

25. If you don't agree with the "violent streak" statement, take it up with

the Sacramento Bee. The quotation is from their editorial pages.

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article78199247.html#storylink=cpy

You are being disingenuous in accusing RandySF of lying. Shame on you.



More from the same SacBee Op Ed:

"A lot of Democrats don’t want to admit it, but Donald Trump isn’t the only presidential candidate playing with fire and recklessly courting an angry mob.

For the latest round of curse-word hurling, chair throwing, social-media stalking and conspiracy-theory swapping, look no further than the supporters of Bernie Sanders."

[Exilednight]

34. the op-ed page? the page where people write their OPINIONS, and not real reporting?

[Surya Gayatri]

36. If there are errors of perception or fact, the Sac Bee will disavow it.

[Exilednight]

38. riiiiiight, sure they will. Bless your heart.

[Surya Gayatri]

40. Thanks. Blessings to you, too.

[jfern]

42. I can't tell whether hopeless naive or pants on fire liar

[jfern]

41. There were a zillion smartphones filming. Zero violence on them.

The Sacramento Bee probably said the Iraq war would be the greatest thing since sliced bread too. Don't believe everything you read in the right-wing corporate media.

[PufPuf23]

24. Hillary Clinton is odd in that she supported political violence in Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, Honduras,

Syria and some one must know how many other sovereign nations were messed with internally during her time as Senator and SOS (and First Lady) with the CIA, DIA, NED, USAID, and military covert ops. Really helped the women and children and other innocents in these countries.

Hillary Clinton then has the moxie to fabricate being under sniper fire in Bosnia and her campaign fabricate thrown chairs in Nevada.

Simply amazing. So unsuited for POTUS and CIC.

Hillary Clinton on violence:

[baldguy]

26. Sanders has always been the malcontent in the back of the class throwing spitballs.

He doesn't have the knowledge, temperament or ability to lead the class.

[Surya Gayatri]

29. The perpetual provocateur--the eternally revolting revolutionary.

Indeed, he has nothing of a leader in his character or temperament.

[LexVegas]

30. He doesnt for the same reason the R's didn't speak up against the Tea Party...Fear. nt

[Vinca]

31. I think the voters have finally had enough on both sides of the aisle.

They're sick to death of a small, select group of people automatically being installed to further the agenda of the upper classes. No one condones violence and for anyone to suggest Bernie does is offensive and ludicrous. Reports from people actually at the Nevada convention have indicated the upset was overblown. For the most part people were yelling "recount, recount, recount." One guy picked up a chair and then put it down and hugged someone . . . according to a report from someone who was there. No one should be harassed on the phone or Internet, but how do you prove all of those people are Bernie supporters and not mischief-making Republicans or Hillary supporters? And, let's face it, anyone in the public eye is subjected to the crazies no matter what they are promoting. The Internet is a cesspool and the country has lost any façade of civility.

[Demsrule86]

46. Actually we are just sick of Bernie

No excuse for his or his supporters behavior.

[Vinca]

49. I'm equally sick of Hillary.

Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Is there any chance she could go back to public speaking school and learn not to yell? (On a positive note, I've managed to hone a perfect impersonation of Hill at the height of her message. It gets lots of laughs.)

[bjo59]

37. Oh my god, this is tiresome. He released a lengthy statement and you know it.

I find it astounding that everyone is just taking it for granted that the supposed threatening call that Lange received was placed by a Sanders supporter when it could, in fact, have been placed by someone seeking to undermine the Sanders campaign (oh, gee, what an idea). I find it astounding that everyone can easily watch hours of video documentation of what happened at that convention and still the rumors and gossip spew out everywhere as fact and a certain group of people just lap it up because it's so tailor made for their own agenda. Gee. really kind of too perfect, huh?

[Demsrule86]

47. Yeah.....

That is probably because we heard the language used at the convention against Barbara Boxer.

[B Calm]

39. DMCA Copyright Policy

You need to shorten your OP before you get DU into trouble!


DMCA Copyright Policy

Do not copy-and-paste entire articles onto this discussion forum. When referencing copyrighted work, post a short excerpt with a link back to the original.

[beachbumbob]

43. We watching the meltdown of Bernie who can't handle being a leader

He is failing big time...

[floriduck]

52. This shit ain't workin. More and more are seeing things for what they are.

Updated reports show no chairs being thrown. And threatening phone calls being traced to out of stat numbers, which could be Repubs or Brockbots trying to slime Sanders people. As for booing Babs Boxer, she earned that one. It was just antagonistic on her part to flaunt her Hillary support in an out of state convention. Remember, she lives in the CA desert.

But as late as this morning, the chair throwing bullshit was still being spread by the media. They love to spread propaganda to the witless.

[GoneFishin]

53. Unless you have proof of chairs being thrown, or proof of any violence you should STFU.