The Revolution That Wasn't
WikiLeaks has released a trove of emails from the Democratic National Committee that prove that Bernie Sanders was right all along when he said that the DNC and its chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz were biased against him during the Democratic primary. The emails also show much collusion between the DNC and media outlets such as NBC.
However, despite the very party that he was seeking the nomination of being against him and in the bag for his opponent all along, Bernie Sanders still claims that he is fully behind the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Sure he makes the argument that Wasserman-Schultz should step down, but he's too afraid to revoke his endorsement of Clinton. There's no question that Donald Trump is right when he says that Bernie's so-called revolution was a joke all along.
There is no longer a Bernie Sanders "political revolution." He is turning out to be a weak and somewhat pathetic figure,wants it all to end!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2016
What has Sanders's revolution amounted to? A few pointless planks in the Democratic Party platform that was forgotten five minutes after it was officially adopted. All that time, energy, and money poured into his campaign only to be relegated to an endorsement of a beloved figure of Wall Street, neoconservatives, and the military industrial complex. Of course, this is all enormously beneficial to Sanders, who will be able to sell his email list off to other parties, will inevitably receive a lucrative book deal, and will receive all the benefits of being someone willing to play ball with the Democratic Party establishment. That's right folks, Bernie Sanders is about to become a member of the 1%.
Contrast this pitiful display with the example set by former Congressman Ron Paul, who upon exiting the race for the Republican nomination for president in 2008 and 2012 refused to endorse either John McCain or Mitt Romney. Rather than have his supporters co-opted and his ideas ignored by the Republican machine, Paul decided to take the energy from his presidential runs and move it in the direction of educating the public. He founded the Campaign for Liberty, the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, Young Americans for Liberty, and the Ron Paul Curriculum home school program among other things.
Rather than be forgotten and marginalized, the Ron Paul Revolution not only created an upsurge in interest in the ideas of free markets and peace but maintained steady growth by refusing to sell out to political hacks. It's the ideas that are important, not whether a Republican or Democrat wins an election. Bernie knows this, but he was never actually interested in ideas. Bernie was out for Bernie. By endorsing Clinton and allowing his ideas and supporters to be swallowed up and forgotten by the Democratic machine Sanders exposed himself as the worst sort of opportunistic fraud, but many of his supporters will never even realize that they've been sold out.