The Florida Democratic Delegation in Philadelphia welcomed Debbie Wasserman Schultz with boos. The shockingly hostile reception by her own friends and neighbors came just one day after Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation as chair of the Democratic National Committee — amid yet another email scandal on the left.
The hack of the Democratic National Committee emails, now public on WikiLeaks, confirms just how preordained a Clinton nomination was.
Like her party’s crowned jewel Hillary Clinton, Wasserman Schultz aimed to ensure that the nomination was, as Donald Trump charges, “rigged.” Wasserman Schultz did not act alone in condemning Bernie Sanders’ campaign to failure, but her clandestine attacks on his candidacy (calling his campaign manager Jeff Weaver an a** in one leaked email) are deplorable, unprofessional and undemocratic.
As far back as February of this year, it was evident that “the fix” was in for Hillary Clinton. As hard as the Democratic National Committee pushed for Clinton, the Sanders Campaign responded by turning its cause and its candidate into a genuine movement. From the leaked emails, we now know that the fix goes beyond the obvious coercion and control of the Democratic superdelegates — nearly 100 percent of whom voted for Clinton. The Sanders movement was dead before it started; Sanders and his supporters just didn't know it, although they had their suspicions.
Wait, someone hacked a private email?
Clinton told us that could not happen, but even the FBI disagreed. There is a sweet irony to the Democratic National Committee email scandal. Moreover, if the Democrats have so little understanding of computer security (as was also proven by Clinton’s use of her own private email server while secretary of state), how can they ever be trusted to keep the country secure at home or abroad? They cannot even keep their own correspondence private.
Wasserman Schultz was an unapologetic Clinton supporter throughout the primaries. She deftly navigated the pressure that built against her from the left until the Committee’s 20,000 hacked emails confirmed just how rigged Clinton’s nomination process really was. The Democratic National Committee was protecting the status quo and the establishment. But the veil has been lifted.
Democratic Party unity is now impossible. Its existing party structure was used as a shield to protect the establishment and its candidate. This only serves to put more pressure on Clinton to move to the left, pushing today’s Democratic Party as left as it has ever been. Its platform reflects a socialist view beyond that of President Obama.
Clinton is compromised and corrupt, willing to do and say anything to gain the nomination. She has moved to the left on virtually every issue in response to the pressure from the Sanders movement, but not because she actually believes in helping the poor and downtrodden. She has sold out completely.
But worse than selling out her “principles,” Clinton has sold out her friend, Wasserman Schultz, by letting her be forced out by the WikiLeaks scandal.
Wasserman Schultz blocked and tackled for Clinton. She cleared the field for her. She fought against the insurgent Sanders so that Clinton would not have to get her own hands so dirty. Any real revolution was not going to happen on her watch. With the nomination in hand and the emails exposed, however, Wasserman Schultz is no longer of any value to Clinton. And given the dissatisfaction of Sanders with her vice presidential pick of Tim Kaine, Clinton has jettisoned Wasserman Schultz overboard as an attempt to alleviate the Sanders’ revolutionaries’ justified outrage.
But this is insufficient.
There are 20,000 emails that show the entire party leadership’s systemic insensitivity and intolerance toward people of color. They call Sanders’ religion into question. Several emails even suggest “pay for play” motives, proposing potential White House appointments for key Clinton donors. To exorcise the party’s flagrant corruption, there needs to be a wholesale change at the top of the DNC. For Sanders, his supporters, and the people at large, Wasserman Schultz’s resignation is not enough.
Notwithstanding the rigged system, keep in mind that Sanders took 22 states and extended the nomination process until June. Now with the hacked emails dribbling out and confirming just how right Donald Trump has been, there can be no doubt that the Democrats’ system was totally rigged.
Like Sanders, Trump, to put it mildly, was not the Republican establishment’s first choice. He was not their second choice. But he was the people’s choice, and the people spoke loudly and clearly — giving Trump more Republican votes in a primary than ever before in history. The people want change.
Clinton is the establishment candidate in an age where real change is sorely needed. She and the Party must be held accountable for her lack of principle and her absence of personal loyalty. Clinton is not just the main benefactor of their rigged system: Clinton actually is the rigged system. But it is not Clinton’s country; it is ours.
We must, therefore, unite as a people and vote against Clinton. This country is at a perilous crossroad, and we cannot afford to be fleeced by a rigged system or its corrupt candidate any longer. It is time for real change, and it must start now.
Ed J. Pozzuoli is the president of Florida-based law firm Tripp Scott. He was the co-chairman of Jeb Bush for Governor (Broward). He also served as an integral member of the Bush/Cheney legal team in the 2000 presidential recount litigation. He is an active member of the Republican Party and served as the chairman of the Republican Party in Broward County, Fla.
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