Take Back Democracy March condemns nomination stolen from Sanders, charges rich control both sides of ballot
On the 23ed of October, the "Take Back Democracy March on DC" condemned Hillary Clinton for rigging the Democratic primaries to defeat Bernie Sanders. The majority of the march appeared to support Green Party candidate Jill Stein as an alternative to a ballot they say is rigged by controlling both sides.
As always seems to be the case these days, the street in front of the White House was closed when the march arrived there. Later on, the march went past a parked Trump campaign van to the sound of booing marchers and then the van's car alarm. No damage to the van was visible-this time around. While most of the march's anger was directed at Hillary for her Wikileaks-proven efforts to sabotage Bernie Sander's primary campaign, Trump was also recognized as a representative of the "1%," and Occupy's "we are the 99%" chant was heard as the march ended back at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
It can be said that with Trump as the GOP nominee and Hillery as the Democratic nominee that this is a race between the Trump and Goldman-Sachs corporate brands. Whether or not Hillery or Trump can steal the general election results from their rivals, there is no question the two-party system effectively locks out real choices.
Major demands seen on multiple protest signs include stopping the TPP trade deal, stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline, a ban on fracking, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour nationally, and universal single payer heath care. Both candidates claim to oppose the TPP, but Hillery is suspected of planning to change her mind after the election. Trump for his part is known to outsource his production at every opportunity and buy dumped Chinese steel. Thus globalization is not on the ballot. For both the Dakota Access Pipeline and fracking, Trump is an oil man who will oppose the people on both issue and may launch a military assault on Standing Rock.
Hillary is silent on the Dakota Access pipeline, raising suspicions that she also is for it given the votes a public statement against it could earn her. Hillary has named pro-fracking, pro-TPP advocate Ken Salazar as her presidential transition team chairman, putting all three of these issues in doubt. A company owned by one of Donald Trump's aides plans to run its oil through the Dakota Access pipeline if it ever opens, so he should be considered irrevocably committed to the DAPL.
If Hillary wins, one route remains open for progressives concerning Executive Branch policymaking: her positions are known to change from day to day, depending on where the wind is blowing from. If the wind is blowing from Sunoco's corporate headquarters she will take the same positions as Donald Trump on the DAPL and on fracking. If the wind shifts to blow from Standing Rock she may do the opposte, so the Left will need to be prepared for a very hard fight.
There was little mention is the October 23 march of the gutter, violent racism of Donald Trump, which is the one real criticism of it. To their credit the march did boo that Trump campaign van, and many of the charges of a rigged election were that it is rigged by controlling both sides of the ballot, something you will never hear from Donald Trump's campaign. Certainly if Trump wins the election many will be in for a desperate fight for survival, with mass migrant roundups, more power to racist cops, and a possible armed assault on Standing Rock as the immediate threats.
HIllary too has had a racist past however, notably her accusation that African-American teenagers were "superpredators" and her role in sending innocent men to jail in the New York City Central Park "wilding" case. During primary season several Clinton events were disrupted by Black Lives Matter activists. Post-primary most of that seems to have been stood down, mostly for fear that Donald Trump would be the beneficiary. DC and MD, however are states that Donald Trump has almost no chance of winning, so a fear-based vote for Hillary in either jurisdiction is clearly a wasted vote.
No matter how you slice it though, this election is already turning people out in the streets, even before most ballots are cast and (maybe) counted. No matter who wins and who loses, a dsputed election will mean massive protests dwarfing the Bush vs Gore era, possibly culminating in a brutal, 3-way fight at the Jan 20 Counterinaugural.
The "Bern it Down" banner was also seen during the DNC protests in Philadelphia
This "Trumpmobile" was booed and its alarm was howling after the march passed. No apparent damage this time around
As always, Penn Ave was closed in front of the White House
