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Joe BidenCongratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
 

The Magistrate

(95,237 posts)
39. Exactly, Ma'am
Tue Mar 31, 2020, 07:21 PM
Mar 2020

If you are one of the Trotsky-ite faction in the little left group on campus, battling it out with the Mao-ist faction, while perhaps a couple of those types who plaster the lamp-posts with those neat retro Albanian posters look on, then certainly the 'party platform' means a great deal. People who don't take the line laid out may have to leave the group, it sets out what everyone has to say on the chief subjects of the day when speaking within the group, or outside it. There is not a great deal besides factional wrangling that goes on in such groups, and should one chance to grow, it will soon calve off new factions and so keep itself within the stable, several dozens at most size range.

That is not how party platforms in our major parties work. Ages ago they used to represent real factional compromises, and were viewed as somewhat binding on the candidates who stood on the party platform for election. Nowadays they do not mean a thing, they are merely occasion for delegates to congratulate themselves on the superiority of their party, and on their agreement with one another on issues of the day and hopes for the future. No one cares a fig for the platform once in office, it neither binds nor directs. People know that what the party's people do in office will be conditioned by what can actually be achieved.

'Bernie' emerges from the factional far-left milieu in which platforms matter, and matter greatly because there is in fact almost nothing at stake, there is no chance any of it will ever come to fruition in the big world, and no chance whatever of ever being responsible for acts and their consequences. No one outside the room is ever going to care which faction writes the manifesto, though to people inside the room it matters hugely --- not in political terms, but in social terms, defining who is in and who is out, who is on top and who is on the bottom. That 'Bernie' seems seriously to think platform planks are important matters is not only one of the things which betrays his 'new left' Marxist roots, it is something that brands him as a political naif, for all his grey hairs and the lines time has etched into his face....






"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
So What Are You Undecided About, Sir? The Magistrate Mar 2020 #1
It will likely be Biden but ... jimlup Mar 2020 #2
Then Say So, Sir The Magistrate Mar 2020 #4
Man, this is a tough room Lulu KC Mar 2020 #10
It Certainly Is, Ma'am The Magistrate Mar 2020 #11
Please don't tell me what to do... jimlup Mar 2020 #16
You May Be Sure, Sir, I Will Not Be a Customer For What You Are Selling The Magistrate Mar 2020 #17
I'm not selling anything jimlup Mar 2020 #18
You Instructed Me Not To Patronize You, Sir The Magistrate Mar 2020 #19
Actually it is jimlup Mar 2020 #20
You could change to Biden and in that .00000000000001% chance it doesn't happen switch to the winner George II Mar 2020 #7
Really so what could happen? Biden dies? Yeah I hear this online...Sorry, you are a 'likely' Biden Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #14
"Sanders doesn't have the AA vote thus he will not be the nominee under any circumstances". LakeArenal Mar 2020 #24
As always, I agree with you. Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #34
Then you change it again. Not a biggie. LizBeth Mar 2020 #32
Thank you for your real-world perspective. I'm glad to know you'll be voting for Biden. Keep up the NBachers Mar 2020 #3
If this is the case than why undecided? This says you don't know the person you will vote for in Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #5
Good post. Bluepinky Mar 2020 #6
Not in the primary...it interferes with fundraising for Biden and down ballot. Sanders is going to Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #15
I have trashed "Sanders" threads LakeArenal Mar 2020 #25
He hasn't shaped anything. Aquaria Mar 2020 #22
+1 betsuni Mar 2020 #38
Most of us here would love to have his ideals implemented. Butterflylady Mar 2020 #8
I disagree jimlup Mar 2020 #9
Hm Aquaria Mar 2020 #23
Great quote. Faint praise is no praise LakeArenal Mar 2020 #26
I support the Ideas of Vice President Joe Biden. I will continue to strongly advocate for my ideals William769 Mar 2020 #12
What The Magistrate said.... quickesst Mar 2020 #13
I'll vote for the nominee, but until it's over, it ain't over Algernon Moncrieff Mar 2020 #21
AOC seems off the Bernie train. LakeArenal Mar 2020 #27
Sanders supporters are lying about and slandering Biden. Walleye Mar 2020 #28
WTF Aquaria Mar 2020 #31
Thanks.I'll vote blue. Period mjvpi Mar 2020 #33
Sorry...this primary is over and I don't give two shits about what is in the platform which is Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #37
Exactly, Ma'am The Magistrate Mar 2020 #39
It is over and I honestly hope for the rest of the primaries punish Sanders. He risks lives by Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #35
See you after the primary...at this point I can't look at pics of Bernie Sanders... Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #36
Biden remains inclusive. tirebiter Mar 2020 #29
Cheers to you... Mike Nelson Mar 2020 #30
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