Yesterday, I said to “trust no one.” Today we’re questioning authority, as is our right and responsibility as good citizens.
We are being lied to. In addition to their continued use of superdelegates in their running delegate counts despite being told not to repeatedly by the DNC, both CNN and MSNBC have also been reporting that there was “violence, intimidation and chairs thrown” at the Nevada Democratic Convention on Saturday, without any proof whatsoever to back up their claims.
They showed no proof because it didn’t happen. Every moment of the so-called-chaos was either shot by Adryenn Ashley or one of the other attendees and posted on her Facebook page, where she’s working on a Google doc to recreate the day, moment by moment!
There was no violence. As for “chairs being thrown,” click here to see the video – just as Adryenn described to us on Monday’s show. One guy picked up a chair, a Bernie guy immediately went over to him, the guy put down the chair and they hugged! So violent! So intimidating! Not.
But that hasn’t stopped everyone from Rachel sellout Maddow to Wolf-what’s-he-doing-on-TV?– Blitzer from “reporting” that it was chaos, violent and chairs were thrown.
Maddow must have heard our criticisms of her sHilling coming through loud and clear, so last night, she actually had on one of the Sanders delegates who was able to correct the record, so to speak, about what really happened on Saturday. Former journalist Jon Ralston lies about what happened for the first 6 and a half minutes or so, then Angie Morelli joins in with the facts (after smacking down Ralson!).
And then things turned even more offensive when Debbie Wasserman Schultz opened her mouth and reinforced the importance of removing her from office!
The most mystifying aspect of this is how clueless they are about the problems in the so-called Democratic Party, and the fact that they don’t see the irony in this situation. They think Sanders supporters are angry about losing 2 delegates. Of course we are, but that’s the smaller issue.
The litany of issues was articulated perfectly by Bernie Sanders himself in the statement his campaign issued yesterday about the events that unfolded in Las Vegas on Saturday.
“If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned. I am happy to say that has been the case at state conventions in Maine, Alaska, Colorado and Hawaii where good discussions were held and democratic decisions were reached. Unfortunately, that was not the case at the Nevada convention. At that convention the Democratic leadership used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place. Among other things:
- The chair of the convention announced that the convention rules passed on voice vote, when the vote was a clear no-vote. At the very least, the Chair should have allowed for a headcount.
- The chair allowed its Credentials Committee to en mass rule that 64 delegates were ineligible without offering an opportunity for 58 of them to be heard. That decision enabled the Clinton campaign to end up with a 30-vote majority.
- The chair refused to acknowledge any motions made from the floor or allow votes on them.
The chair refused to accept any petitions for amendments to the rules that were properly submitted.“These are on top of failures at the precinct and county conventions including trying to depose and then threaten with arrest the Clark County convention credentials chair because she was operating too fairly.”
Yes, he condemned any “violent” or otherwise reprehensible behavior by anyone – and pushed back against the inflammatory and unfair characterization of Sanders’ supporters as having “a penchant for violence” as nonsense.
“Within the last few days there have been a number of criticisms made against my campaign organization. Party leaders in Nevada, for example, claim that the Sanders campaign has a ‘penchant for violence.’ That is nonsense. Our campaign has held giant rallies all across this country, including in high-crime areas, and there have been zero reports of violence. Our campaign of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals. But, when we speak of violence, I should add here that months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada and apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked.”
If the Democratic Party leadership doesn’t wake up and smell the reality, they’re in for a big surprise.
Deborah Newell, who hangs with us each Wednesday morning, usually to make fun of FloriDUH, and Huffington Post columnist, lawyer, professor, author and all-around brilliant guy Seth Abramson were my guests today, and we discussed all of the above, the results of last night’s primaries in Kentucky and Oregon and what we do next.
As to that last point, what we do next… we get ready for California and beyond, and keep calling bullshit when the media lies. This was the last thing I shared today — Mika Brzezinski calling out Debbie Wasserman Schultz and saying she needs to resign! Of course, that was after she repeated the lie about “Sanders supporters throwing chairs” again. (Cue in to the 15:00 mark)
Maybe we’re having an impact! Keep making noise!
