A Progressive Third Party

[Edward theurj Berge]

With the realization that Sanders will probably not win the Democratic Party nomination, and that said establishment Party is corrupt beyond repair, there has been a spate of internet articles on what to do with the Sanders campaign machine. One option I hear frequently is to take all that momentum and organization and form a progressive third party, one that challenges both the establishment Democratic and Republican Parties. We've come to realize that the Democratic Party is too far gone to the dark side of corporate cronyism never to return to its own progressive roots. In the posts that follow I'll provide my jeremiad on this.

[Edward theurj Berge]

Sanders gets to appoint 5 of the 15 delegates on the Platform Committee of the National Convention. His choices are Dr. Cornell West, US Rep. Keith Ellison, Deborah Parker, James Zogby and Bill McKibben, progressives all. It remains to be seen though if their input will have any effect, as they will be outnumbered 2 - 1 by the remaining picks by Clinton and the corporate Chair. Plus Sanders will have no picks on the Rules Committee, and we've seen in the NV convention how the rules can be rigged to prevent any progressive input.

[Edward theurj Berge]

The Green Party IS the progressive third party. See this interview with Jill Stein, Presidential nominee with the Green Party. She says there is no need to go in search of a progressive third party as one already exists in the Green Party. It has a very similar agenda as Sanders and is convinced that the Democratic Party is now completely usurped by the corporate oligarchy, never to return to the New Deal. She encourages Sanders and his supporters to join the Greens and dump the Democrats, as together they just might have the numbers to pull off some upsets in upcoming elections.

[DavidM58]

Yes, that's what I said here:

http://integralpostmetaphysics.ning.com/xn/detail/5301756:Comment:6...

[Edward theurj Berge]

You are always ahead of the curve. Sanders will, at least for this election, get behind Clinton and the Democratic Party. I'm hoping he comes to his senses afterward though and uses his campaign machine to push for a third party or join with the Green Party.

[Edward theurj Berge]

56% of Americans would prefer a third-party candidate. Most of us are so tired of the false choice between Democrat and Republican that we'd prefer 'other' in the upcoming election. That's enough to win the Presidency. Sanders really should consider an independent run because he could very well win. And give up on the corrupt Democratic Party and its corporate candidate.

[Edward theurj Berge]

In this interview Sanders basically said that even though Clinton and he diverge on several issues, at this point he will support her because the alternative in Trump would be a YUGE disaster for this country. He admits that people don't trust Clinton's change of view on for example the TPP or the Keystone Pipeline. And that her work is to convince us she's authentic about it. So for this election Sanders is not going third party, but we can hope that if Clinton is elected, and she and the Democratic Party continue to feed the corporate beast, he'll change his tune and start turning his campaign machine into a progressive third-party movement.

[DavidM58]

Sorry to go off topic, but lately I keep seeing "huge" written as yuge or yuuge.  Where did that come from? Is this something that comes from Bernie's accent, or is this coming from somewhere else in pop culture? Not being a TV watcher or pop media consumer (very much), sometimes I'm late to the game on these things. 

[Edward theurj Berge]

It's an attempt to put in text the way Trump pronounces the word.

[Ambo Suno]

David - as Edwyrd says. Here is a link with a little more context and info. If you google, in quotes, you get more. It may have come also to refer ironically to trumps bombastic manner.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/3lsyy5/yuge_yoooj_yo...



DavidM58 said:

Sorry to go off topic, but lately I keep seeing "huge" written as yuge or yuuge.  Where did that come from? Is this something that comes from Bernie's accent, or is this coming from somewhere else in pop culture? Not being a TV watcher or pop media consumer (very much), sometimes I'm late to the game on these things. 

[Edward theurj Berge]

This Salon article starts by saying that Sanders cannot run as a third party at this point. And that he would not have received as much support as he did if he'd done that from the beginning. But now that he has got the attention of millions of people, many of them young, after the election it might well be the time to organize such a progressive third party.

Many if not most of Sanders supporters have been disillusioned by the Democratic Party and no longer believe it represents them, just the corporate oligarchs. Rather than wasting time trying to reform the Democratic Party from the inside it's time to start from scratch with a Party that holds true to the values and policies the Sanders' agenda articulated. Hence it would garner massive momentum from the start if Sanders himself were to light the fire in this direction.

[DavidM58]

Thanks Ambo and Edwyrd.  That Out of the Loop section at reddit is pretty cool.

Ambo Suno said:

David - as Edwyrd says. Here is a link with a little more context and info. If you google, in quotes, you get more. It may have come also to refer ironically to trumps bombastic manner.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/3lsyy5/yuge_yoooj_yo...



DavidM58 said:

Sorry to go off topic, but lately I keep seeing "huge" written as yuge or yuuge.  Where did that come from? Is this something that comes from Bernie's accent, or is this coming from somewhere else in pop culture? Not being a TV watcher or pop media consumer (very much), sometimes I'm late to the game on these things. 

[Edward theurj Berge]

See this excellent article debunking the false dichotomy that if you don't vote for Clinton you in essence vote for Trump. One can indeed fight Trump while voting for someone other than Clinton. And to do the latter is to in essence give up on your progressive values, since Clinton does not represent them per her record and despite her disingenuous rhetoric. To do so is to fall in line behind the corrupt Democratic establishment, which will undoubtedly continue its corporate ways so that the issue is never resolved. We have to take a stand sometime for what is right or it will never be righted.

Some excerpts:

"Sanders supporters are simply not content to dilute the political revolution they have started by integrating it into the framework of the Democratic Party and by placing it within the confines of a Clinton presidency."

"So I will continue to support Bernie Sanders and the movement he has sparked both because I believe it is the right thing to do, and because I refuse to fall in line behind a candidate who has, in just the past few months, repudiated basic standards of transparency, belittled those who fight for ambitious social agendas, turned her back on single-payer health care, courted Republican donors, accepted campaign contributions from Wall Street and the fossil fuel industry, and attacked the core argument against the Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision."

"As for Reich's concerns about the future of the Democratic Party, well, I'm with Michelle Alexander: 'I hold little hope that a political revolution will occur within the Democratic Party without a sustained outside movement forcing truly transformational change. I am inclined to believe that it would be easier to build a new party than to save the Democratic Party from itself.'"