(Written in July 2016)
DNC, fellow Democrats, and in particular Clinton supporters, heed my words, as I am staking my entire reputation on what I am about to say.
If I have to stand alone as Bernie or Bust, refusing to fall in line under a candidate that represents the problem....if I have to resist this all by myself, then I still must do it.
I simply cannot in any way support a candidate that obviously represents the very problems whose existence caused me to support Bernie and become involved in this election. It would be hypocritical, contradictory, and would plain and simple cost me my honor.
No, I will not support the Wall Street candidate, Hillary Clinton. Not in word or in vote, not now, not ever. Even if it causes "harm" to my reputation, I must do what is right and speak what I think. Anyone who expected less of me, did not believe in me and should unfriend me now. I have a strong spirit and I know what is right.
I am a National Delegate to the Democratic Convention from Michigan's 6th Congressional District, and I am publicly proclaiming that I will NEVER vote against my values, and Hillary Clinton opposes values that I hold dear. She represents opposition to my values and has shown me nothing different.
Money must be taken out of politics. An entirely new attitude towards our workers, people and economy must be taken. Criminal bankers must see jail time. Taxes must be fair. Education and healthcare must be seen as human rights, and this must be acknowledged as beneficial for all of society. Glass Steagall must be reinstated, and Citizens United MUST be completely repealed and replaced by publicly funded elections.
No-one expects Hillary to address these issues. She is not a progressive. Her and her husband are "Reagan Democrats". They are not true Democrats of the Party of JFK and FDR.
I do not expect Hillary to win the General Election. In any case, her chances are not better than Bernie's, that pretty much can't be argued. The Party is shooting itself in the foot. The DNC and HRC's campaign have colluded since the beginning, including their "Southern Strategy" which clearly was calculated to give heavy weight to southern states that the Democratic Party won't win in the general anyway, but ultimately giving an advantage to the more conservative candidate in the ultimate delegate count. And that's without mentioning the election fraud, dropping of voters from the rolls and voting machine hacks. Regardless who's to blame, it is my firm belief that Bernie Sanders should in fact be in the lead. Much of Clinton's initial take-off was based on coin-flips! New York exit polls were off by 12%....the same percentage as the Ukraine's were when Congress about blew it's top calling election fraud. Our response when it's on our own soil? To cancel the exit polls so people don't notice the continuing errors...
In the meantime corporate profits are at an all time high as 1/3 of corporations pay no taxes at all, our regulatory bodies are in a state of regulatory capture, big business interests have turned our government into their own cash cow and the "too-big-to-fail" banks that caused their own failure (as they were allowed to do thanks to the removal of Glass-Steagall by Bill Clinton, a bill which does not need to be re-instated, says Hillary, as she takes HUUUGE sums of money from these banks for apparently spectacular speeches that she refuses to release) are bigger than ever. These are the people she works for, the people who over the last 40-50 years have completely gutted our system in the name of dominance of the financial and corporate sectors. Our schools are failing as taxes are dodged and as low as ever, and Hillary has no intention of making the insanely wealthy elite class pay their fair share or of changing the capital gains tax. Even funding college education for all, as most other decent democratic nations are able to do, with a measly half-percent tax on the speculative investing that caused us trouble in '08 is out of the question. Because the People is not who she's fighting for. And she doesn't see what we see: That corporate personhood and the worship of the corporation as an ideal societal form of organization is destroying our society. The top is eating the rest; our public institutions are continuously under attack and we are expected to think that Hillary has what it takes to stand up to the huge forces that are destroying our society, bc she can "tell them to cut it out" as she takes millions for a few speeches to those same forces that have over the years worked to destroy the middle class and our public way of life.
What is happening must be seen and acknowledged, and Hillary does no more than pander. She doesn't understand the ideological battle that has been going on for decades; the class warfare initiated by the elites upon the working class. A battle we are losing. A battle that Hillary Clinton is no champion in. The jacket she wore during her "victory" speech - this is literally true- cost more than the average worker's yearly wages several dollars above minimum wage. Her State Department gave weapons deals to countries that donated to the Clinton Foundation, and they also fought to keep Haitian wages below 61 cents/hour. She is not our champion. She is not even a suitable stand-in for our champion.
She supports frakking. She supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement which, like Nafta, further harms workers around the globe and represents the furthering of global corporate control.
Supply side economics is what this woman represents, and supply-side economics is the Reagan-style policies that have continuously degraded the role of the worker and ceded control to those with the most wealth and power, despite the fact that that power is based on productive power of the workers- well, is supposed to be, thanks to the financial sector, labor isn't even needed to increase "profit". Profit, GDP, all these fancy numbers do NOT equal what people think they do. They do not necessarily equal positive value for society in any way. The structure of our society is top-heavy, and it is collapsing fast. Bernie and his policies were really our last chance.
So here's whats going to happen. There are a LOT of Bernie or Bust voters. The Independent voting bloc is the largest in the nation, and it's the voting bloc that the DNC is pissing off. And yet they expect everyone to forget their own opinions, hell, forget their ideals and values, forget the entire Movement, a Movement that Bernie has only carried the torch for but has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century....that is what we are being asked to do, and it just isn't going to happen. It just doesn't translate that way.
So here's the deal. This election is under RANSOM.
The Democratic Party, the DNC, and the mainstream media are heavily promoting fear of Trump (that negative campaigning they say they are against, true as most of it may be). I am deeply concerned about having a Trump White House as well. Saying those words makes me feel sick.
However, us Berniecrats and Progressives are committed to electing a progressive House and Senate, and up and down the ticket on all levels.
Those Bernie-supporters who want to unify to stop the moron Trump do not see what Bernie stands for or the big elephant in the room regarding the way our society is run. Instead they run like cowards from a rich "businessman" with an IQ of 12.
Voting for your candidate no matter what is not equivalent to voting for Trump.
If America needs a Trump administration to learn it's lesson, so be it. We will be ready to resist him for 4 years.
If the DNC and the Democratic Party needs a Trump administration to learn their lesson, we will be ready to resist him for 4 years.
If the DNC were truly afraid of Trump, they would run Bernie against him. But they aren't. Why is that? Is it already in the bag?
Our New Congress and our popular resistance will leave Trump immobilized as President. The same as the GOP has done to Obama.
So, I, right here and right now, swear that up through November, I will ONLY vote for Bernie Sanders, be it on the Democratic ticket, the Green ticket, and Independent ticket or if I have to write him in. I will also be working hard to elect down-ballot Berniecrats.
Then I cannot be blamed when Trump becomes President, as I will have voted for the one who could have stopped him. I will not be blamed for voting for the only candidate who fits my values, Bernie Sanders. The DNC, the Party and America will learn it's lesson after stonewalling Trump for 4 years, and they will once again unite with their progressive base- or become irrelevant. All of this is up to them; through this whole process we are only being true to ourselves, and failing to being intimidated into voting for Hillary by this "scary-Trump" strategy. Trump is a moron and I'm not afraid of him. Bring it on. BERNIE OR BUST!
I am willing to stake my entire reputation on what I have said above. I'm going down with this ship with no regrets.
(of course, don't take that the wrong way, I'll be fighting for change just the same for years to come, probably in the Democratic Party if there is indeed room for change there and if Bernie doesn't change party affiliation)
Charles Niswander