The Ostensible Writing On the Wall: Hillary et. al. See One Thing, #StillSanders Stubbornly Sees Another

Monday, March 21, 2016

The Ostensible Writing On the Wall: Hillary et. al. See One Thing, #StillSanders Stubbornly Sees Another

by

Abby Zimet, staff writer

The discrepancies mount. In March, a grotesquely and unnecessarily pandering Hillary gave perhaps her most hawkish speech yet to the Zionist confab AIPAC, where to thunderous applause she spoke out against the "appalling" BDS movement she has long criticized, promised to invite Netanyahu to the White House right after she's elected, described sitting in Israeli hospital rooms comforting the victims of "terrorist bombs," vaguely urged everyone to try "avoiding damaging actions" on illegal settlements, and insisted American support of Israel's "security or survival" is not negotiable.

A Gleeful Bernie in Washington

In contrast, the Jewish Sanders, who spent time on an Israeli kibbutz in the 1960s and has promised to seek a "level playing field" for Israelis and Palestinians, skipped the event, theonly candidate to do so. It's unclear if that was  because of his campaign schedule, or because he was heeding the petition asking him to reject a lobby representing "the racist, militaristic, and anti-democratic policies of the most right-wing government in Israel's history.”

Instead, Sanders headed to Washington rallies that drew over 35,000 supporters in three cities, including over 15,000 in Seattle, where many stood in lines in the rain for hours, and many more had to settle for listening from outside (with the bonus of Bernie eventually making his way out to greet them.) His events were all free. When Hillary goes to Washington this week, she'll be speaking at a small, private fundraiser that will cost $2,700 to get in. For $50,000, you get to talk to her. 'Nuff said.

The mind-blowing kicker: Despite everything - the fact that Sanders just raised a record $43.5 million from 1.5 million small contributors, his campaign has galvanized millions, his core arguments on economics, military interventionism, police violence etc have resonated so deeply with Americans that establishment bestie Clinton now repeatedly parrots and sometimes morphs into him, that polls find Sanders trouncing Drumpf et al by the biggest margins - despite all this, most of the press continues to ignore, bury, patronize and belittle him and his "fantasy" campaign.

Now, establishment pols, out of patience and/or a tad panicked by his grit, are politely calling for Sanders, in the words of Politico, to "start winding things down," or as Barbara Boxer would have it, "The writing's on the wall." Yes, well. Depends on your interpretation. For evidence it's not over till it's over and many, many people swear it's not and are willing to work hard to make it so, see here, here and here. 

In the latest shock to the people who are supposed to know about these things, a new poll has found that even in super-red Utah, where a Democrat hasn't won anything for 50 years, Bernie would beat Drumpf 48% to 37%, compared to Clinton narrowly beating him 38% to 36%. Chris Karpowitz, co-director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, calls "any matchup in which Democrats are competitive in the state of Utah" as "shocking." He adds, "Wow. Wow. That's surprising." There's been a lot of that going around.