Staying the Course (And Justice for All)

7/12/16 Editor's note:  Yes, we've changed our banner photo and the title of this blog. We're now "Our Revolution Continues -- The Bernie Blog." We will continue providing insight and news on progressive candidates, issues and topics. Thanks for reading and sharing the blog with others, and please consider submitting your thoughts to us for publication. We want to hear from you. Our mission remains the same--only the name has changed.

We the people will not be silenced or cowed into submission by corporatists and corrupt politicians. We will continue to speak out about injustices and crimes against humanity. Our voices are strong and our vote this November...? Well, there are probably going to be some very surprised oligarchs.  (Can't wait to see the looks on their faces.)

Peace, love and progressive thinking be with you always.  --Cindy

 Staying the Course 
(And Justice for All)

by Cindy A. Matthews

One man began to speak and millions started listening...

And we are still listening.

It's been another confusing week in the Berniverse, but perhaps it's an indication of things to come. In order to clean out the corruption, we have to first expose it. FBI Director Comey listed the activities of an "extremely careless" former Secretary of State who seems entirely lacking in judgment.  That his judgment is now also called into question for not recommending charges be brought against her for her gross negligence in not keeping top secret emails secure further illuminates the depth of corruption pervading our government-- 

And our society. Two more black men were killed by police this past week simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, confronted by the wrong cops. According to The Young Turks, 136 Black lives have been taken by police action so far this year, and African-American teenagers are 21 times more likely to be shot by police than whites (data gathered from 2010-2012 FBI statistics). Only days later police officers were shot and killed in Dallas after a peaceful protest about the latest cop killings.  

Corruption pervades the very fabric of our justice system, a system which metes out violence to fill its private prisons to make obscene profits for its stockholders... A system  in the halls of Congress which openly doles out money from the gun lobby to our representatives without a thought to the lives taken by homicidal individuals carrying military assault weapons on our streets.  A system without morals, without mercy, and without even the decency to  acknowledge #BlackLivesMatter.

There were four Latino lives taken by police this past week according to TeleSUR with little or no mainstream media coverage as well. Our corporate media conglomerates see no profit in documenting non-white deaths. Profit is to be made solely by spinning endless drivel about the electability of a certain racist GOP candidate and his wall, a wall which symbolizes the perverse division between our actions and our humanity.

Can there be any doubt that (to quote George Orwell's Animal Farm) "Some animals are more equal than others" in our messed up society? Our thin veil of denial is gone. With Bernie's leadership, we know these harsh truths to be real, and we are empowered to speak out about them. We can protest these injustices in the streets of Philadelphia. We can bring about change by passing new laws and insisting our government enforces the good laws already on the books. Because we know that no one is above the law, and we will not rest until morality and common decency has been restored.

We are staying the course. We are standing by our chosen candidate, Bernie Sanders. We are not blindly accepting corruption.  We are fighting for justice--justice for all and not only for "some."

See you in Philadelphia.

Some Are More Equal Than Others

by Bern Notice

You know, there are moments when I really hate being right. This is one of them. I hoped that I would be proven wrong and would have to eat my words. Nothing would have made me happier than to say I was wrong about Hillary Clinton not being indicted over the e-mail fiasco. Unfortunately, I'm proven right again--much to my dismay.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/05/politics/fbi-director-doesnt-recommend-charges-against-hillary-clinton/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07/05/fbi-recommends-no-charges-to-be-filed-against-clinton.html?intcmp=hpbt1

I'm certain that a number of Clinton supporters are dancing in the streets right now. Hillary herself is likely breathing a huge sigh of relief. While they may celebrate, they may not understand what the significance of this decision is.

Let's define a term.

Justice:
1
a : the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments
b : judge
c : the administration of law; especially : the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law or equity
2
a : the quality of being just, impartial, or fair
b (1) : the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action (2) : conformity to this principle or ideal : righteousness
c : the quality of conforming to law
3
: conformity to truth, fact, or reason : correctness

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice
 
And let's reference a quote from the current version of the pledge of allegiance:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Source: http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm

And the text on the front of the Supreme Court.

"Equal justice under law."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_justice_under_law

The key to all of these references is applying justice equally, fairly and without prejudice. We have seen numerous times where the wealth and status of an individual has protected a person from repercussions that would be faced by an average citizen without the same means.

The Affluenza Teen:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/12/the-affluenza-defense-judge-rules-rich-kids-rich-kid-ness-makes-him-not-liable-for-deadly-drunk-driving-accident/

O.J. Simpson:
http://espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=moments/11

These two have little in common outside of wealth and status. An average citizen would not be able to afford a robust defense that would get you an acquittal considering the evidence at hand.

This case is worse because it will never enter a courtroom. If this was an average citizen who had 1/100th of government related e-mails she had, classified or not, on a private server at their house, they would have been slam-dunked months ago. Instead, we have a highly influential politician who not only avoids facing jail time but avoids going into a courtroom.
 
I'll point back to the references I made at the beginning of this post. The common theme in all three references is that justice is supposed to be applied equally--to everyone! Yet because some Clinton supporters (and others) treat elections like it's a professional sports franchise, they are willing to grant a pass because they think it works in their favor.

This shortsightedness sets a new precedent. First, any person who at any point has a spill of government information can point to the Clinton fiasco and argue for the case to be dismissed. They will say, "Clinton had tons more information than I did, and she got away with it. I should be excused." That removes the consequences for protecting any information. And you can bet that any smart lawyer will use that to their advantage.

Second, it reinforces the mindset of "Do as I say, not as I do." Politicians are supposed to be public servants, not lords and ladies immune from the consequences of violating laws. Not only that, but now they have the mentality that they can do so brazenly and in the open without consequence. Yet if you do the same thing, there will be hell to pay. Once again, America’s greatest export--the double standard.

On my profile, I have a paraphrased quote from George Carlin. It says, "It's a big club, and you ain't in it! Oligarchy!" It is not a random quote, but it is an accurate representation of the current state of affairs in our nation.

Oligarchy starts small and stays in the shadows out of fear because they know that if the people wake up it's all over. Over time, it grows from being fertilized by indifference and apathy. Now it is completely out of hand. There is no fear. They do what they will because they think that people are too stupid to do anything about it.

Make no mistake, this is not about left versus right. This isn't about bathrooms or parties or faith or any other wedge issue that they use to divide us. It's about "The Oligarchs" versus "Everyone Else". Working class citizens need to look beyond party labels. We need to be aware and make others aware of what is staring us right in the face.

You can't have a free and civilized nation without equal justice. It is the bedrock of a free society. Right now, justice is in a coma and in critical condition. Unless we force drastic change and soon, it will be dead.

This Woman is Bernie Strong!

by Christine Orchard

Should he win or not, Bernie must stay the course. To continue the leadership toward change. The rhetoric will change,but we need the assurance that he is a leader no matter the decision. Many leaders did not get the first round; but I for one am encouraged to finally feel like there is hope. I am one of the working poor, retired now on Social Security, but I was a single mom that raised my children with the right stuff.

And I see this in Bernie. I have been a Democratic voter for 40 years and shared this important choice and action on our part. But I am also aware that change can be slow but with dedication and hope-- and work--it can be done.  

***

 Others see another option for us to vote for Bernie:

My change.org petition asks those that would vote for Bernie should he run on the Green Party ticket, to sign the petition.  I need to reach 100 signatures before I can promote the post on change.org -- so I'm just trying to get it out there.  Here is the link to my petition:

Bernie Sanders: I will vote for Bernie if he runs as the Green Party candidate!

*** 

I came across this "open letter" online that pretty much says what's on a lot of our minds... 

 We'll see you in Philly!

Do you hear the people singing in the streets? You will in the City of Brotherly Love. Enjoy the video below and sing along. We the people are strong. Feel the Bern!

Special: Black Lives Matter Protest in Seattle

Symone D. Sanders, National Press Secretary, addresses the rally at University of Washington

The Bernie Blog Special : 

Remarks About the Black Lives Matter Protest in Seattle

By Anthony Lewis

Today my heart aches. I'm grievously disappointed in my people. The BLM disruption was a distraction. But, in that regard, I'm grateful that the end result of it will only be as significant as a slowdown in traffic on the highway due to an accident.

I had started to speculate that the agitators were essentially hired shills, sent out by our enemies to slow our progress. I no longer suspect any such thing, and the reasons are simple.

The BLM movement is an important and expanding campaign. It actually has that in common with the Bernie Sanders campaign. It's growing in stature and prominence (gratefully), but it’s nowhere near the level where Bernie is at.

Bernie announces that he is going to speak somewhere, and how many people show up? You can't even count that high! BLM makes a similar announcement, what’s the head count? Sadly, you easily see the difference is breathtaking. The unfortunate truth is that the BLM movement has yet to gain traction or resonate in any way similar to Bernie Sanders’ campaign.

I believe now that these women were motivated to take advantage of what they perceived as a weakness in our campaign. Evidently they thought (and wrongly so) that, by stealing some of the limelight, on their own they would not have been able to position themselves for, that they could personally get attention for themselves. Not for BLM. They wanted to gangster the whole Sanders rally and turn it into a me-me-me!  type of show.

The BLM movement will continue after all this. The Bernie Sanders campaign will drive on, ultimately concluding with Bernie becoming President of the United States. These two women? Nobody is even going to remember their names next week (if they aren't already forgotten). And the embarrassing disruption itself will get put into the context that it's best remembered as a reminder of how much further we have to go in this country where issues of race are concerned.

We should be natural allies in this battle against the 1%! The BLM movement is not our enemy. They should not feel compelled to lash out conveniently against Bernie because they can obviously see he is white. Not everyone who is white is evil. And not everyone who is black is your friend.

Anthony Lewis ‪#‎Vets4Bernie

Bio: Anthony Lewis lives in Indiana and is great at rallying his fellow Bernie supporters on Facebook.  http://beknown.com/anthony-edward-lewis   Go Bernie!

What does Bernie say about "Racial Justice" in America today? Read his posting online: https://berniesanders.com/issues/racial-justice/

Bernie Sanders Rally Seattle (You should watch this short video!)
Bernie Speaks b4 the rally event. I was two people away. Neat, powerful and inspiring.
Posted by Christopher Cook on Saturday, August 8, 2015