But leftists, being hardly so religious, recognize a self-defeating, excessive "turning of the other cheek" in Bernie. And Jeffrey St. Clair, again to his credit, probably summarizes this best. If Sanders and most of his supporters can play so nice with Democrats--after the Democratic establishment stabs him in the back for doing nothing more radical than representing the party's New Deal philosophy--how can Bernie and his supporters pull off anything so radical as a political REVOLUTION? Answer: left to themselves, they simply can't, but with their spines stiffened by a political Left devoted to seizing a unique historic opportunity, they potentially can.
"Bernie or Bust" Pledge CAN Unite a Leftist Revolution
The problem with Bernie--and, above all, with his Sandernista supporters--is their counterrevolutionary unwillingness to see Hillary Clinton for what she is: a morally repulsive ENEMY of Bernie's revolution. That's exactly why Bernie's revolution--which he's been so successful in starting, by undermining Democrats' legitimacy--is probably doomed to disappear in a few months without a forceful (and perhaps not quite welcome) hand from the harder Left. Revolutions always have bitter enemies, and Bernie has misled his followers into treating Hillary Clinton and her toxic Establishment as anything but such. By his own showing, one can only assume that his motive is lesser-evilism, the sense that Democrats must win the general election at any cost--even the cost of making such a vile piece of sewage as Hillary Clinton U.S. president. Granted, Republicans are worse, but when the only rational arguments for electing Clinton are "better than Hitler" arguments ( such as Noam Chomsky makes ), it seems Bernie's candidacy is an emergency opportunity on which leftists must act.
And the proper time for leftists to act is during the primaries, when it's not a question of risking the election of "little Hitler" Republicans . By taking and advocating for Revolt Against Plutocracy 's Bernie or Bust pledge NOW, leftists can multiply both the numbers and the visibility of an anti-Hillary pledge that already has almost 43,000 signatures. By our using leftist alternative media, and by encouraging timid Sandernistas--by force of sheer numbers--to follow in leftists' footsteps, the pledge could easily reach its projected goal of a million takers in a very short time. And, beyond the prospect of defeating Hillary the hideous (by impressing on Democrats how many progressives refuse to vote for her) in a very short time, the gains to the harder left and Sanders supporters from finding a common bond could be immeasurable. More on those prospective common gains in my next article.
APPENDIX: COUNTERPUNCH ARTICLES ON SANDERS' CRISIS CREATION FOR DEMOCRATS
Outright Conversions to Critical Support for Bernie
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/19/rethinking-bernie-sanders/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/02/my-hail-bernie-pass/
Sanders as Wreaking Havoc among Democrats
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/03/signs-of-a-gathering-storm-iowa-caucus-report/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/03/where-does-bernie-go-from-here/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/11/can-the-establishment-fix-its-bernie-sanders-problem/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/08/the-curse-and-failure-of-identity-politics/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/08/the-sanders-paradox-a-brief-for-bernie/
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