Cornel West to Activists, Immigrants: Let's Dump The Democratic Party (2017)

[TomCADem]

Bernie Sanders has relied Cornel West to legitimize himself as being responsive to the needs of African Americans. However, Cornel West has no credibility given how often he makes it a point to attack other African American leaders. Like Bernie Sanders, Cornel elevates himself by attacking would be allies like President Obama, Al Sharpton and Ta-Nehisi Coates. At this point, Cornel West main
role is to provide talking points for folks trying to undermine the Democratic party from the "left."

https://www.colorlines.com/articles/cornel-west-activists-immigrants-lets-dump-democratic-party

Professor and author Dr. Cornel West has a message for people who identify themselves as political and social progressives: “The neoliberal vision of the Democratic party has run its course.”

In an essay published by The Guardian today (April 24), West argues that the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s term in office makes it clear that the Democratic party is not capable of leading progressives in a time when the GOP dominates the American political landscape.

* * *
A group of former Bernie Sanders staffers have come together to convince Sanders to head a new “people’s party,” and West makes an appeal to immigrants, activists and progressive leaders to join the ranks:

And if a class-conscious multi-racial party attuned to anti-sexist, anti-homophobic and anti-militaristic issues and grounded in ecological commitments can reconfigure our citizenship, maybe our decaying democracy has a chance. And if brother Bernie Sanders decides to join us—with many others, including sister Jill Stein and activists from Black Lives Matter and Brown immigrant groups and Standing Rock freedom fighters and betrayed working people—we may build something for the near future after Trump implodes.

[still_one]

1. I see he is working hard to get trump reelected

[JoeOtterbein]

2. Bernie is leading critics back to the Dem party!

Great job Bernie!

[TomCADem]

4. Bernie Sanders: Dem platform for last 15 years has been a 'failure' (2018)

Yup, Bernie who helped write the Democratic Party platform in 2016 described his efforts as failure in 2018. Of course, notwithstanding his attacks, Democrats won back the house even though Bernie's supported candidates generally did not fare very well.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/381808-sanders-dem-platform-for-last-15-years-has-been-a-failure

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed the Democratic Party's platform at an event in Mississippi on Wednesday, saying it had been a "failure."

“The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure,” Sanders said, according to The Washington Examiner.

“Now what happened — people sometimes don’t see that because of the charismatic individual named Barack Obama who won the presidency in 2008 and 2012. He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant man,” the senator continued.

“But behind that reality, over the last 10 years Democrats have lost about 1,000 seats in state legislatures all across this country."

[Cha]

6. Sanders: "I don't consider myself a Democrat"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028947540

BS isn't "leading" anywhere.

[NYMinute]

12. In black and white -- right there

Boom!

[Cha]

17. Booom!

[David__77]

25. That's right.

The thing is that some people may not want such people in the Democratic Party. I say enter and fight for policy and candidates in the primaries and get into party organizations.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. GREAT JOB BERNIE INDEED!! Bernie knows how to bring Democrats together...we should follow his lead!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[TomCADem]

34. Isn't Bernie Now Blaming Hillary for Disunity?

Let me get this straight. Bernie hires on surrogates who have repeatedly trashed the Democratic party, and that does not undermine Democratic unity, but when Hillary merely criticizes Bernie, that damages unity?

Really? Bernie's campaign has been going scorched earth on everyone including Warren, Biden, Harris, Etc., but he gets a little criticism, and that is being disloyal? It is so Trump-like.

[Loki Liesmith]

3. Let's Dump Cornel West

He’s an academic fraud. Little more than a pseudo-intellectual con-artist.

[not_the_one]

13. He is the equivilant of Camille Paglia...

an attention whore.

[Cha]

5. West is a brainwashed petty idiot.. Fuck OFF, cornel with your stupid LYING buzzwords..

Cornel West v. Barack Obama

https://www.thenation.com/article/cornel-west-v-barack-obama/

Who the fuck does he think WON the Blue Wave House in 2018? yeah, I know this was from 2017.. has he changed his mind?

[beastie boy]

7. Bernie must be fuming over this remark!

If Americans dump the Democratic party, how will Bernie run for President?

[keithbvadu2]

8. "Let's Dump The Democratic Party" equals 'We want Trump'.

"Let's Dump The Democratic Party" equals 'We want Trump'.

[brooklynite]

9. Setting aside the stupidity of the remark...

...Did Mr. West do anything to build an alternative? Or was that someone else's job?

[Hekate]

10. I see Cornel plans on "building something after Trump implodes." Sounds like he & Sarandon...

...commune with each other. There is something so Rapturesque about this desire for an Apocalypse first.

Aside from that, his use of "brother" and "sister" is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

[NYMinute]

11. Why would any Democrat vote for Sanders?

He has hired people in top positions who HATE the Democratic party. I am suspicious of the intentions of EVERY Sanders supporter I encounter and their loyalty to the Democratic party.

[oasis]

15. Dizzy fool. nt

[betsuni]

16. This makes me want to scream:

Jill Stein supporter Cornel West on Hillary vs Trump: "What has she done on the ground for poor and working people?"

Here (thank you, Susan Bordo):

Co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Staff attorney for Children's Defense Fund
Former director of the Arkansas Legal Aid Clinic
First female chair of the Legal Services Corporation
Worked to keep minors out of prison in South Carolina
Created Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth
Led a task force that reformed Arkansa's education system
Instrumental in passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program
Promoted nationwide immunization against childhood diseases
Worked to investigate reports of an illness that affected veterans of the Gulf War
Helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice
Initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act
Helped create the Children's Insurance Program (CHIP)
Took a leading role in the investigation of health consequence of first responders and drafted the first bill to compensate and offer the health services our first responders deserve (Clinton's successor in the Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand, passed the bill)
Proposed a revival of the New Deal-era Home Owners' Loan Corporation to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in the wake of the 2008 financial disaster
The Clinton Foundation ... has improved the living conditions for nearly four hundred million people in over one hundred and eighty countries through its Initiative program
As secretary of state, worked aggressively on issue of climate change
As secretary of state, made LGBTQ rights a focus of foreign policy
First candidate in the 2016 election to visit Flint, Michigan, and work with the local government

Maya Angelou: "I had watched her when she was First Lady of Arkansas. I thought this white girl would come to Arkansas and play croquet on the lawn and throw tea parties. And she was just the opposite. She worked on public health and education ... even prisons."

[oasis]

18. Thanks for the eye opener. Someone needs to educate "Professor" West. nt

[betsuni]

20. You're welcome. A lot of people need to be educated.

[TomCADem]

22. Cornel West: I'm Not Convinced the Democratic Party Can Be Reformed

What we need recognize is that Bernie Sanders and his supporters are not really interested in building a movement based on the Democratic party. As Cornel West's comments make clear, he is trying to destroy it, which is why Bernie Sanders and supporters like West get so much positive attention by Russians and Republicans. Sanders and West are not trying to build a movement. They are trying to destroy one.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/12/01/cornel_west_im_not_convinced_the_democratic_party_can_be_reformed.html

DEMOCRACY NOW: In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory over Hillary Clinton, some progressives are now pushing a shake up of the Democratic Party’s leadership in efforts to reform the party. But Dr. Cornel West says the Democratic Party can’t be reformed. During the Democratic primary, West endorsed Bernie Sanders. Sanders later picked him to serve on the Democratic platform committee. After Hillary Clinton won the nomination, West made headlines when he endorsed Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. For more we speak with West about the Democratic Party and what organizing looks like in the wake of the election.

CORNEL WEST: Well, I think there’s going to be a lot of different responses. I have a deep love and respect for brother Bernie Sanders. I always will. I don’t always agree with him. I’m not convinced that the Democratic Party can be reformed. I think it still has a kind of allegiance to a neoliberal orientation. It still has allegiance to Wall Street, the very victory of Nancy Pelosi is a sign that neoliberalism is still hegemonic in the party. I hope that Keith Ellison is able to present a challenge to it. But, my hunch is —

AMY GOODMAN: — as head of — if he makes it is head of the Democratic National Committee.

CORNEL WEST: If he’s head of the DNC. But my hunch is the Democratic Party has simply run out of gas. I mean, this is a party that couldn’t even publicly oppose TPP when we debated that in the Platform Committee. And that’s just one small example. Couldn’t stop — couldn’t vote to stop Fracking, and so on. So, it’s still so tied to big money.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

28. I don't know what has happened to him.

Cornel West was once a decent, intelligent, activist and advocate for the people who society has marginalized and forgotten. But at some point, he did a 180 shift and I don't know what motivated him to become the creature he is now.

[betsuni]

31. It's such a shame.

Compared to 2016 he seems to be even worse.

[lapucelle]

32. I really like Susan Bordo.

Didn't she publish a feminist analysis of the 2016 general election? I think a few of the major newspapers published excerpts.

[betsuni]

33. Yes! "The Destruction of Hillary Clinton, Untangling the Political Forces, Media Culture,

and Assault on Fact that Decided the 2016 Election." I often use it for reference.

Right now I'm reading Steve Almond's "Bad Stories, What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country."

Someone should put together a reading list of books exploring what the hell happened, IS happening. Bordo's is indispensable.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

19. For what then?

The purists who will dig through the ashes of what Trump leaves behind? Provided we're still alive.

[Gothmog]

21. I am proud to be a moderate Democrat

I do not approve of sanders' attempt to remake the Democratic Party into his own image

[oasis]

24. +1

[David__77]

23. Cool. That said, I say work within the Democratic Party.

It’s a big tent, and i think right tent for progressives, including those who want “socialist” reforms.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

30. Bernie is making the "Big Tent" even BIGGER with more Democrats than ever before!!

Bernie is lighting the way for Democrats... we just need to follow Bernie's lead and the truth will set us free of the maniac currently occupying the White House!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[TomCADem]

36. Bernie Sanders Files To Run As A Democrat -- And An Independent

Well, it seems like Bernie is already abandoning the Democratic tent before the primaries by filing to run as an independent...

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/04/700121429/bernie-sanders-files-to-run-as-a-democrat-and-an-independent

Bernie Sanders filed Monday to be a candidate for the Senate in 2024 — as an independent.

But last month, Sanders filed as a Democrat for president.

It's not unusual for candidates to file with the Federal Election Commission for re-election to their current office, which allows them to begin raising money. Most candidates file shortly after Election Day, in fact.

But with Sanders, it creates the odd situation of having a high-profile presidential candidate file to run for two different offices with different parties, just as the Democratic Party is adopting rules mandating presidential candidates take something of a loyalty pledge.

[NurseJackie]

26. Ugh! He disgusts me.

[Hoyt]

27. Don't agree. But I'm OK with Cornel West. Academics say things to make us think.

Of course, after reflection, I usually say, "Uhm, not so sure about that."

[Blue_Tires]

35. West is trash...