The lady pictured here is Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairperson of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). All day long yesterday, the cable news networks were repeating a story that some Democrats in Congress were beginning to discuss how to remove her from her position with the DNC.Why would they supposedly want to do that? To make peace with Bernie Sanders and his supporters -- in the hope of having a peaceful national convention, and unifying the party for the November election.
I call BULLSHIT!
Bernie Sanders has been trying to portray himself as a victim for months now. He wants people to think that the only reason he is not going to be the party's nominee is because the DNC has "rigged" the primary process to favor Hillary Clinton.
And the person he has demonized the most, because of her position as head of the DNC, is Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He has portrayed her as being unfair, and doing all kinds of nefarious deeds to block his nomination. He has gone so far as to say he would remove her from her office if he became the nominee.
Well, he's not going to be the nominee. Hillary Clinton will be. And as the loser, Sanders has no right to pick the chair of the DNC, or remove the current chair. Sanders should be ashamed of the vicious attacks he has leveled against Wasserman Schultz. Neither she nor the DNC as a whole have done anything to hurt the candidacy of Sanders. They have been scrupulously fair to all candidates in the race. Washerman Schultz's (and the DNC's) job is to elect more Democrats at all levels -- and taking sides in the presidential contest wouldn't further that job.
Sanders knows he has lost the nomination. Now he is just trying to bully the Democratic Party into giving him what he wants. He has already been given more seats on the platform committee (and I have no problem with that, since a Sanders and Clinton platform would look much the same). But now he wants more. He wants to bully the party into giving him virtual control -- something he has not earned.
There are some fools in the party who are giving in to this bullying. They think the party cannot unify if they don't give in to Sanders' bullying, and are afraid progressives won't get back on board if they don't cater to Sanders' ridiculous demands. I disagree. I think it's time for Sanders to stop the bullying, and for some Democratic officials to grow a backbone.
Are progressives going to abandon the party if Sanders doesn't get what he wants? Do we even need Bernie Sanders to bring progressives back into the fold this November. I say the answer to both questions is NO.
There will be some die-hard "Bernie or bust" people who will stay at home or vote third party in November -- but there numbers are tiny. There are not enough of them to affect the election. Most progressives are smarter than that, and they understand that a Trump presidency would be a disaster for this country. They understand that Trump would be dangerous in foreign policy, and would undo many of the hard-won progressive advances this country has achieved in the last few years.
And the Democrats have a "secret weapon" to help those progressives come back home -- Elizabeth Warren. Warren has impeccable progressive credentials, and in fact, was the first choice of progressives to run for president. She remained neutral throughout the primary season, because she recognized that both Clinton and Sanders would pursue a progressive agenda if elected -- and that is what she wants most of all.
And Warren is a true Democrat, who will aggressively support the Democratic nominee. She has already started attacking Trump, and no doubt will continue her efforts to elect Hillary Clinton throughout the campaign season. And her advocacy will bring many progressives back on board.
Does the party need part-time Democrat Bernie Sanders? NO! Not as long as they have full-time Democrat Elizabeth Warren. Party leaders need to realize this, and stop giving in to the bully tactics of Sanders. And that includes going along with the demonizing of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
