Okay, I recently got attacked personal and public by Houston Baker behind this hillary/bernie thing, that kinda hurt - last time I lost friends behind political purity tests was when I called Reparations a joke, history has absolved me and so I trust it shall again
But now that Bernie no longer appears to be a threat and trying to work his way back into the fold and since I support his basic premises let me see if I can redeem myself among his folk with some strategic analysis by rickydoc.
First off I do not apologize for my support of Hillary Clinton in spite of berniefolks determination to demonize her and her complex history I submit she is still the right woman for the job and Bernie was not,
Bernie has a role to play but it’s not president, he got caught up in the roar of the crowd and stepped off the highroad and when he became a threat to November by demonizing Hillary and the party I came out against him, demonizing our nominee made no sense to me and I felt need to inject a little more reality based reasoning into the mix, perhaps I was a little too eloquent, I did not expect the personal hostility I got for it and when attacked I tend to get snarly
Now that he is trying to work his way back into the fold and since I do support his programs if not his strategies (or his temperament) Im willing to look at implementation of his agenda, what I think is reasonable, what is not, see if I can redeem myself for his youthful legions willing to listen, I am such a marginal voice in the scheme of things I tend to think I can say what I want without blowback, this time however I received a great deal of blowback, reminds me that you always have to discipline words of power
Among the doma, the knowers, the bambara masters of the fishing spear, words & speeches must be true to be effective, words of power have influence only when they are pertinent and clearly related to definite circumstances. Accordingly a grand master is not afraid of the unfavorable opinion of his various publics and acknowledges error publicly as obligation and purification from defilement.
One ima say what I got to say, ima call it like I see it, The Babajohn trained me to be a visionary, I consider myself a strategos of struggle, ima always call it like i see it.
two, coming out against Bernie, (even though my words did not affect his numbers in the least, he was just not going to win this) but I too regret his not winning and acknowledge i may have been an error here, I don't believe it was but im open to the possibility, only time will tell and how Bernie and the Bernistas implement their 2nd phase.
I see he going down ballot with the political candidates, that's good, that is in fact his critical move, but let me speak on the current political moment, a crossroads, my favorite kind, this is what I think is viable in his negotiations, what I think is not:
The efforts to remake the Dem party I am not in favor of, we gon have to disagree on that, Im willing to bet the repubs wish they had some super delegates on tap - electoral politics I lean to the center and not the margins, Ive run the margins in my day, was campaign manager once for the Babajohn as part of a radical slate going up against the Brooklyn machine during Jessie jacksons 2nd run - the machine creamed us, we didn't have a clue – what im saying is where the bernistas are now, been there, done that, call myself speaking from a more comprehensive strategic posture.
And also I believe a large part of his remake the party move is a personal resentment over losing, not fully principled and not really good use of the moment, somewhat petty in a moment that calls for greatness of vision.
Let me repeat I reject the Hillary as currently demonized, she complicated, she has done moves for which she regrets Im sure and I know about her and bills complicated dealings with blackfolk, the Clinton foundation issues, et al, but she got Obamas support and Obama is my boy, im looking at her evolution, im looking at the support she gave Obama, im giving her a pass on her complex history w/blackfolk based on where she is now
The whole thing about her being the Whore of Wall Street I also reject, it's the political world we live in, it costs big money to run, just cause Bernie was able to do the movement thing don't mean Hillary can, either we compete under the Rules as they are or we are not competitive
Also felt like a large part of the hardleft attacks on Hillary were surrogate attacks on Obama and I wasn't going to have that, it’s like you werent there (well I guess quite a few of you werent) to watch what Obama had to go thru and his learning curve about doing it in the current state of things and its like we were just going to ignore the hard lessons of the last 8 years (were you there when we lost single pay after months of hand to hand combat only because kennedy died before the vote, and now yall gon demonize Hillary and the party because they cautious about singlepay and all the other things all good democrats want, that's just uninformed, where have you been for the last 8 years, but I digress . . .)
I believe Hillary and the Dems will do their best, to strengthen obamacare from its initial weakness (just like social security, medicare et al, they all started weak cause weak is all that would make it thru the process) I trust they will strengthen social security, overturn citizens united, etc etc, all dependent on taking the supreme court, ie us winning in novemember, I trust her and Dems to do their best, so im good there
Reversing Repub supreme court victories on civil rights and the role of money in politics. Well that all depends on those supreme court vacancies and a whole slew of other issues that come up over the next 3, 4 generations will be addressed there, here I expect victories untold.
The 15 dollars I don't consider that a deal breaker, Hillary says 12 and will accept 15 depending on local conditions, not a deal breaker for me, I trust she will do her best
Incarceration rates, I trust she will do her best and even a little bit more because she has a history to atone for, crime and policing, same same, I believe she will do her best, if for no other reason than to return the help of The Mothers, I believe Hillary believes in political loyalty, I trust her to handle this, you may not, if not we got disagreement, wont be the only one . . .
Breaking up Wall Street and the banks, well, that's an ongoing process that's always gon be struggle, some battles you don't actually win, you just do your best, according to a book I just read, Why Nations Fail, societies flourish determined by how well they can keep their elites from exploiting the rest of us, I trust Hillary here to do what she can to move that marker, not as far as I would perhaps but then I couldn't run for president, or be one, it's the difference between being a politician and being a political theorist, they have constraints I do not, in the final analysis Bernie and Hillary are both politicians and should be approached as such. Here I expect Hillary to do what she can.
Hillarys biggest issues for me are her hawkish nature and her pandering Israel,
Her hawkish nature, well progressive forces will have to restrain Hillary there and she aint gon take but so much restraining but with a little restraint she just might be the woman for these perilous times and she is not totally beyond our influence, I will not approve of all her moves and will try to influence what little I can but when all is said and done I think she will be a good president, you might not agree, time will tell
Israel, well I fear between Hillary and Schumer, Israel can damn near do what it wants. I hate the idea of a triumphant Netanyahu with his bag of demands. Here Bernie has my deepest respect for opening that conversation in a manner I can only consider courageous. Get some movement on Israel and Palestine and I will consider it a good day work.
But all this depends on Bernie actions as part of the establishment he been demonizing, and his folk are going to howl but the only way Bernie is going to have influence over her is by cutting a deal with her now and supporting her in the election, a relationship that will be challenging and complex but does not have to be hostile
(saw where in his speech he committed explicitly to defeating trump without explicitly saying that means supporting Hillary but his folk not ready for that yet, now that he back on board ima give him a pass like I give Hillary passes)
I acknowledge I been kinda hard on Bernie lately I must say, feel like he let the personal overwhelm the principled and the practical and I began to see his intransigence and demonization as a threat
I also feel that he has not been fully honorable with his vulnerable supporters and has allowed them to wander off the path and now he has got to get them back on it
When I say the path Im not talking about allegiance to the democratic party im talking about ethical political conduct, too many times the bernistas have taken the low road, principles good, execution hostile and counterproductive - that whole demanding folk think like you right now or harass and belittle them till they do, you got to dump that mode of political engagement with the quickness, you plant the seeds, you nurture them, you let them grow
The critical thing with the passions of struggle is that struggle must ennoble you, not demean you and if you allow yourself, in search of the good, to be dehumanized you have lost the battle even if you win.
But now we are where we are, and the whole thing depends on defeating trump, (probably the only Republican Hillary could defeat) but just because the pundits and polls declare him falling and in my heart I expect a blowout Im going to approach this as though it was hand to hand, neck and neck, Trump has confounded political wisdom repeatedly and I do not like surprises
If the Dems win Bernie is in a position of power, in his chosen battlefield, electoral politics, he will try to keep his movement alive, with an inside and an outside game running in tandem, as Obama did with OFA and Dean did DFA but did they change the game, no not really, the game really resistant to change, Bernie got more power in the moment than Obama did but only in matter of degree and his next move depends on how well he plays the transition, how well he institutionalizes his movement, how much he commits to the down ballet lines and his relationship with the Democratic president and the Democratic leadership, of which he is now a powerful part
.Bernies outside game is the strongest Ive seen in my lifetime, he has a chance to be something truly significant, a game changer, but only if he gets a little more pragmatic in his expectations and a little more graceful his execution, (and perhaps his temperament, he might have to grow into the role) and starts training his troops into a more sophisticated strategic posture
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