“There Are Knuckleheads on Both Sides of the Clinton/Bernie Divide”

Caption: Tom Carsner, who organized the local Iowa City "Our Revolution" meeting 9/21/17.

Out of curiosity, I went to an “Our Revolution” meeting convened by Tom Carsner at the Iowa City Public Library in Iowa City, Iowa in the Republic of Johnson County. I did, after all, caucus for Bernie Sanders in Iowa and then voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The guest speaker was Robert Becker, a former Bernie staffer in Iowa, who described Our Revolution as an effort to transform the Democratic Party from within.

“We’re not interested in starting a third party,” Becker said. “We need to organize and bring energy and experience together.

“There are knuckleheads on both sides of the Clinton/Bernie divide. You have to play by the law but not the rules. We didn’t put our kids in the hot weather like the Trump and Clinton people did.”

He continued to bash Hillary and celebrated Bernie’s victories. It never seemed to occur to him, as he was calling for unity, that there might be a Hillary supporter coming over to Bernie in the audience. He just assumed that we all despise Hillary. He rehashed the past a lot and then spent some time talking about tactics for the future.

“We have to unite with other groups,” he exclaimed.

He made fun of women riding motorcycles and wearing leather jackets and then bragged that he made friends with them. He supported them and they became his allies.

“Align with little groups,” he advised.

Big groups? Not so much. To hell with Hillary and her supporters.

He advised us not to rub Trump supporters’ noses in Trump’s messes. Analogy?

“You can’t rub a puppy’s nose in his own poop.”

“Don’t label yourself. Talk issues. Talk Medicare for all and tuition-free college."

If only he hadn’t labeled himself as a Hillary hater. At question time, I commented, “I read an article about how the Democratic Party is afraid that the Hillary/Bernie divide is going to bring down the party for a long time. I caucused for Hillary in 2008 and I caucused for Bernie in 2016 and voted for Hillary in 2016. Don’t you feel a little self-conscious about bashing Hillary? You said, ‘We have to unite with other groups.’”

Becker apologized for bashing Hillary. Then he said, “But she hung me out to dry as Secretary of State in the Middle East.”

Say what? He didn’t explain and I didn't get a chance to ask. If he was going to bash Hillary once again, he should have explained what he meant by “she hung me out to dry.”

I came to the meeting with an open mind and left feeling alienated.

If we can't come together as a party, how are we going to defeat the Republicans?