I think that the theme of this convention
was really one of unity.
This was a time when we have to come together
to defeat a president who is the most evil,
the most corrupt that any of us have seen.
And that says a lot.
It also was a time when we saw two nominees
who we, as progressives, know we can work with.
Kamala Harris’s sister, who introduced her, Maya, is the former head of the ACLU of Northern California.
Kamala ran for DA in a much more conservative
time, and yet did so as an outspoken opponent
of the death penalty, who then held her ground
early in her term when she was tested, when
an officer was killed, and the entire liberal
establishment in Northern California came
down on her, and she said, “The death penalty
is wrong, period.”
Tremendous courage.
And Joe Biden, who Bernie himself said is
poised to be the most progressive president since FDR.
And so, while it’s not Bernie, and while
maybe it’s not somebody else someone hoped
for, what we do know is that these are people
that we can work with.
These are people who, at their best, represent
our best values — literally, the daughter
of civil rights activists, the sister of a
civil rights lawyer, who herself told me 15
years ago she became a prosecutor because
it wasn’t enough to just fight the power,
we also had to hold the power.
And I’ve seen her act courageously.
So I’m very hopeful.
And I have no doubt that we can work with
Joe.
Like Ady, who spoke so beautifully — and
that was a true highlight for me — I believe
that we must move towards Medicare for All.
I also believe that Joe Biden will take us
further in that direction certainly than Donald
Trump, and, frankly, further than most presidents,
that we have an opportunity here to move things
in the right direction again.
And as organizers, that’s the most important
thing to get out of any presidential election,
is a president that you can move in the right
direction.
I agree with Brother Ben in terms of being
part of an anti-fascist coalition, that I
think we’re forced to vote for Biden.
But we’re not going to lie about Biden,
we’re not going to lie about Harris.
We’re going to tell the truth about their
captivity and their refusal to hit Pentagon
money spending and militarism around the world,
to hit Wall Street greed and to also speak
substantively to issues of poverty.
You can’t have massive protests all around
the country, the largest in the history of
the country, you can’t have Brother Barber
and Sister Theoharis out there talking about
poverty, and then, when you get to the convention,
you get this spectacle that has nothing to
do with wrestling with poverty.
I think Brother Cory was the only one to even
talk about it, for the most part.
None of the major figures did.
Thank God, did Bernie.
Thank God AOC got her little 90 minutes [sic],
as opposed to the Republicans —
Ninety seconds.
— getting major — I’m sorry, 90 seconds.
Exactly, 90 seconds.
So that, you know, I’m with Ben in terms
of we’ve got to vote for Biden, but never,
ever lying about him, and not coming to terms
with the fact that at this moment, with the
decline and fall of the American Empire, it
looks as if the system is unable to generate
enough energy to seriously reform itself.
It remains sanitized, superficial.
We’re getting Lawrence Welk’s bubbles
rather than Prince’s Revolution.
I want to go to Prince’s Revolution concert.
I want fundamental change.
