nakedcapitalism | Leading up to Monday’s Democratic Party convention, Hillary chose
Blue Dog Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her VP. This was followed by
the Wikileaks release of Democratic National Committee (DNC) e-mail
files showing it acting as the Clinton Campaign Committee even to the
point of using the same lawyers as her own campaign to oppose Bernie
Sanders.
The response across the Democratic neocon spectrum, from Anne Applebaum at the Washington Post
to red-baiting Paul Krugman and the Sunday talk shows it was suggested
that behind the Wikileaks to release DNC e-mails was a Russian plot to
help elect Trump as their agent. Former US ambassador to Russia Michael
McFaul lent his tattered reputation to claim that Putin must have
sponsored the hackers who exposed the DNC dirty tricks against Bernie.
The attack on Trump was of course aimed at Sanders. At first it
didn’t take off. Enough delegates threatened to boo DNC head (and
payday-loan lobbyist) Debbie Wasserman Schultz off stage if she showed
her face at the podium to gavel the convention to order. The down-note
would have threatened the “United Together” theme, so she was forced to
resign. But Hillary rewarded her loyalty by naming her honorary chairman
of her own presidential campaign! If you’re loyal, you get a pay-off.
The DNC was doing what it was supposed to do. No reform seems likely.
The Democratic machine orchestrated a media campaign to distract
attention by attributing the leaks were to a Russian plot to undermine
American democracy (as if the e-mails did not show how undemocratic the
DNC had operated in stacking the primaries). A vote against Hillary
would be a vote for Trump – and a vote for Trump would really be for
Putin. And as Hillary had explained earlier, Putin = Hitler. The media
let it be known that attacking Wasserman Schultz – and by extension,
Hillary’s neocon policies – makes one a Russian dupe. This theme colored
the entire convention week.
Endorsing Hillary’s presidential bid on Monday evening, Sanders
joined in the chorus that this November will pit Good against Evil – or
as Ray McGovern put it on RT’s Cross Talk, at least proxies for
Netanyahu vs. Putin. Wall Street Senator Chuck Schumer went on TV to
heave a sigh of relief that the party was indeed united together.
Many Sanders’ supporters felt no obligation to follow his obeisance.
Many walked out after he closed Tuesday’s state-by-state roll call by
throwing his support behind Clinton. Others chanted “Lock Her Up”.
VP Kaine as Hillary’s Stand-in if She’s Indicted or Seems Unelectable
