Buttigieg Looking to Capitalize on the 2020 Version of Democratic Primary Shenanigans

Seven months before the first primary election date, Pete Buttigieg is already courting superdelegates. In other news, Donald Trump just moved one step closer to seizing his second term.

When a candidate is already looking to capitalize on a system that short circuits the democratic process, you have to wonder if there is a hidden ethical problem.

For those who don't know, the superdelegates do not vote until the second ballot in 2020 if necessary. Unless the field is pared down quite a bit when the voting starts, a second ballot is going to happen. If you remember 2016, it was the superdelegates that gave Bernie Sanders too much of an uphill battle to win the nomination. They are party insiders that favor establishment candidates that have their hand in the corporate till which buys influence with politicians. A simple check of Buttigieg's contributors (compliments of Open Secrets), we already see that he is immersed in corporate money.

When the loudest messages on the campaign come from Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, there will be trouble if there is an establishment takeover on the second ballot. It will cause a rebellion with the progressive wing of the party because the message from Warren and Sanders is that the corporate establishment is corrupt. 

The establishment took over to a certain extent in 2016, and we got Donald Trump. If it happens again, get ready for four more years of ridiculous tweets and xenophobic policy.

Conventional wisdom says that the superdelegates will not pick Buttigieg this time. They will court Elizabeth Warren instead. She has been known to play ball with the establishment from time to time and would be more likely to spark a rebellion. They certainly aren't going to pick Bernie Sanders. They might have to settle for Bernie light.  In the meantime, Buttigieg is showing some colors that a lot of voters aren't fond of.

Bill Maher Missed the Plot About Progressive Purity

I am sure that Bill Maher tries to be on the good side of issues, but he seems to not be a deep thinker - only bein able to analyze the top layer. His "New Rules" in his recent show is an example. His thesis was pointing out that the people who refused to vote for Hillary in the election were idiots because Trump is a lot worse - as if anyone didn't know that would be the case before the election.

Relation State endorsed Jill Stein for president. It wasn't because RS believed that Stein had a chance to win. It wasn't that we believed that Hillary was as bad as Trump. Relation State endorsed Stein because what was wrong with Hillary was disqualifying.

What Maher doesn't get is that those with progressive leanings refused to consider the "lesser of evils" mentality in allocating their sacred votes. If we go though our lives making decisions based on the lesser of evils, we will find ourselves never selecting the good.

Not only did progressives not want to vote for the lesser of two evils, they hope that if Trump did win, that perhaps people could see the consequences of their choices. However, they perhaps gave Democrats more credit than they deserved. Hillary and her followers refuse to look in the mirror concerning their failures. Instead they choose to blame FBI Director James Comey, Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, and even - if you can believe this, the media. I am not one to defend the media, but my gosh . . .

So yes, Mr. Maher, you are correct. Hillary would have been a better president than Trump. Everyone knew this in advance. However, you have completely missed the plot. There are many progressives who care more about winning the war than they do about winning a battle - even if a battle is very consequential.

The Democrats, using sleazy tactics, were hell bent on coronating a bad candidate that had no message. Those tactics, when exposed, cost a number of DNC employees their jobs and put the DNC, itself, into court. There is no wonder this had a lot to do with disqualifying their party and their candidate in the general election to a lot of people. The lesson learned here is that selecting a president doesn't start in the first week of November; it starts in late winter.

The moral of this little tale is this: If Democrats didn't want a Donald Trump to win the presidency, they shouldn't be hell bent on nominating someone who can't beat him. Mr. Maher, if you could just peel back your sanctimonious onion another layer, you could have easily seen this. Maybe at this point of your life, for a number of reasons, you are not capable of doing that (insert your own pot joke here).

The "Berners" are ready to Occupy the News Channels for Bernie Sanders

There is a movement afoot that has Bernie Sanders supporters ready to occupy the media for next Tuesday's primaries.

What caused this stir is something Chris Matthews, of MSNBC, stated on the air to Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager, "I'm told by the experts on numbers around here at NBC and elsewhere that come June 7th, the day of the California primary, . . . that at eight o'clock that night Eastern Time the networks will be prepared, including this one, to announce that Hillary Clinton has now gotten over the top - that she will have won the nomination. In numbers, it's done! What will that do to turn out if that's five o'clock Pacific time with three more hours to vote in California, who will be least likely to vote?  Sanders' people from 5 to 8, or Hillary's?"

It was at this point that Humpty Dumpty establishment finally had their big fall. This arrogant proclamation by Matthews infuriated the Bernie crowd.  Afterwards, social media became abuzz encouraging the faithful to stand up to these establishment media giants in the same spirit that Sanders has crusaded throughout his life - through peaceful protest.

The issue is that only the pledged delegates, i.e, those that are mandated by the voters, are locked-in delegates.  The superdelegates are basically floaters.  They can change their mind everyday from now until the convention.  Nothing is written in stone for them.  Weaver explained to Matthews that the pronouncement would be inaccurate because the superdelegate count is basically a poll, not a vote. He compared it to calling the California primary election based on polling numbers rather than the voters on election night.  

What made matters worse is the response Matthews gave to Weaver, "I don't want to have this conversation."  

Of course he doesn't but it was too late for that.  As a result the "Berners" are mobilizing. There is talk of showing up at the door of NBC at Rockefeller Center, CNN at Columbus Circle (both in New York City) to express their displeasure with the establishment media who they are convinced has been out to get Sanders from the beginning.

What makes it look particularly bad for MSNBC is the hypocrisy.  It is hard to reconcile that their commentators routinely chastise Republican policies that suppress the vote while their basic reporting policy will do the same thing come Tuesday night.

If the media follows through with its pre-mature announcement,  it will be just another in a long list of ways the entire establishment has been trying to contaminate the democratic process in the primary process. It is this kind of system that gave birth to the Trump and Sanders' phenomena.  It will be interesting to see how they all attempt to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Bigger Than Bernie

Why don't Sanders supporters get it? Don't they know that Donald Trump winning the presidency is Armageddon? Don't they care about the appointments he will make to the Supreme Court? DON'T THEY? The answer: Yes and no.
Many people want to tell Bernie Sanders supporters that no matter how they feel about Hillary Clinton, they should be ready to work for her if she secures the nomination. The thinking is that a Clinton presidency while a lot less appealing than Sanders in the White House is infinitely better than a Trump presidency. While Bernie doesn't yet urge his followers to be prepared to support Clinton if he comes up short, he does admit that a Trump presidency would be the worst of all possibilities.However, it seems that Bernie doesn't quite understand the full impact of the movement that he started. It has become bigger than Sanders and more about the future of politics in the United States.
The Bernie revolution is hoping to change progressives to a different way of politicking and governing. They want to do it from within the Democratic party because of the two main parties, it is the most progressive. However, a great number of Bernie supporters are just now getting acquainted with politics and the Democratic party and have found both to be contemptible. There is no "sucking it up" and getting behind the party. They are more inclined to start their own party than to coddle up to the one that rejected them. It wouldn't be a leap to say that half of them wish Bernie would walk out right now and run as an independent.
To the revolution, this election isn't about beating Trump; it is about transforming the way America does its business. Without Sanders, it is business as usual. If it takes Trump to screw things up to wake some progressives up, then a Trump presidency isn't' the worst thing in the world that could happen. Politics as usual is worse than even Trump. Is that a practical approach? Probably not. Couldn't the revolution be won in increments without giving up the White House and congressional coat tails to the Republicans? Perhaps. But just remember, the idea of increments was what they rejected in the first place. That was the mantra of that other primary candidate.
To the "Bernie or Bust" crowd, for a revolution to succeed, the insurgents are going to have to be prepared to sacrifice for the cause. A Trump presidency, no matter how horrible, is merely a sacrifice and not a defeat. They know that a raccoon will chew through his arm to free itself from a trap. A Trump presidency may be that sacrificial limb. The sacrifice may hurt and disadvantage them for a spell, but will also provide incentive for them to come back stronger than ever. At least, that is their mindset. They just may be right.