Now, here we are again, and Bernie no longer faces a powerful foe like Hillary whose Clinton machine controlled the party. Yet, its influence is still being felt. It has anointed Joe Biden as its standard bearer and has been relentless with its attacks on Bernie with the complicity of the liberal Mainstream Media (MSM), even red-baiting him, which has been the tactic of the Republicans.
In one article, from ABC-News, he was castigated for alleged mixed feelings about gun control in a letter he wrote 30 years ago. Bernie was explaining his opposition to the first Brady Bill, the gun control legislation mandating background checks and banning nine different assault weapons. The article focuses on the letter but doesn't provide the full context for it, failing to fully explain the Crime Bill which was attached. This bill that was sponsored by Biden expanded the number of crimes for which capital punishment could be used and limited the rights of those on death row. In the Senate, liberals like Ted Kennedy voted against it.
When the law was originally proposed by Senator DeConcini (the law Sanders supported), it was not attached to a Crime bill and was vetoed by President Bush. The Crime Bill had been a concession to the supporters of the NRA.
An even more ridiculous smear is one you can find on many Internet sites. It blasts Sanders for his views on the causes of cancer. This wasn't yesterday or last year but more than 50 years ago in 1969! Do they have to go back 50 years to find dirt on this man? Is it really that hard to find?
Maybe it is.
That's why I support Bernie.
Nevertheless, they are rigging the system against him once again, putting former Hillary operatives like John Podesta on the Nomination Rules Committee.
Perhaps, even more unsettling: Alex Padilla remains as California's secretary of state, the person responsible for counting the votes. He has approved use of BMDs, ballot marking devices, which are unverifiable and subject to falsification, in many of the state's counties. In 2016, he refused to count 2 million Independent votes that would've largely gone to Bernie. With all 415 delegates going to the winner of the primary, California is a must-win if Bernie is to capture the nomination on the first ballot.
Problems with the tallies of votes in the primaries have already been evident and there is little reason it won't continue. First in Iowa, and more recently in South Carolina where Biden's final tallies far exceeded both exit polls and predictions based on every major poll before the voting, and where BMDs were used. There's also talk that the Superdelegates will block Bernie if he has the requisite majority. Given the current corruption, nothing will surprise me.
We can only hope that there is a limit to how much they can rig and that our vote will mean something. Otherwise, democracy is doomed.
A vote for Bernie is a vote for freedom; a vote against the corporate kleptocracy and the military-industrial complex; a vote for a living wage and a cleaner environment; a vote for healthcare and a college education for all.
A vote for Bernie is a vote for the people, not the billionaires, a vote that will help ensure that our democracy shall not perish from the earth.
(Article changed on March 2, 2020 at 05:35)
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