When Ro Khanna Speaks It Matters, Part II-- CA-25

Earlier today, we noted Ro Khanna's leadership in regard to the excesses of Trump's Pentagon Budget, basically Trump ripping up Eisenhower's Military Industrial Complex speech and using if for toilet paper and then flushing it 15 times. I want to remind you that Khanna is also Bernie's chief congressional surrogate and has worked tirelessly to make a cohesive case for Bernie's election and for the platform Bernie is running on.

Last cycle, just one member of Congress-- that same Ro Khanna-- was able to see the potential for one of the most revolutionary political happenings in decades, namely replacing corrupt establishment hack, Wall Street suck-ass, and "next Speaker," Joe Crowley with AOC. Khanna endorsed her; not one other member of Congress dared to. Just Ro Khanna.

This cycle, Khanna joined half a dozen other members to endorse progressive challenger Marie Newman over anti-Choice, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ Blue Dog Dan Lipinski. And this week Khanna became the first-- and only-- member of Congress to weigh in for Cenk Uygur in the special election to replace Katie Hill in CA-25, a blue-trending district in the suburbs north of Los Angeles.

The DCCC, EMILY's List and the political establishment already have a hand-picked candidate-- a meaningless and insipid backbencher-to-be with nothing whatsoever to recommend her: Christy Smith, an assemblywoman with no accomplishments other than her involvement with herding indigents onto buses in Santa Clarita (which she represents) and dumping them off in the Antelope Valley (which she doesn't represent but is part of the district she wants to represent). Other than that, Smith is one big yawn who has assembled a pack of ravenous mercenary consultants and opposes Medicare-for-All, showing, right from day-one her utter contempt for working families.

There is no doubt that Cenk is the most revolutionary candidate running for office anywhere in America. Do you like the way AOC, Rashida, Ilhan and Ayanna have shaken up Congress? You ain't seen nothing yet! I always loved this AOC meme-- and the work she's done behind it. Just watch Cenk if he makes it into the House.

In the last few days, he's given me too statements for this blog, one regarding Big PhRMA and one regarding the banksters. Each goes too the root of the problems with the American political system as it has developed over the last several decades:

• "Drug companies don't give politicians money for charity, they do it to buy them. And unfortunately it works. Everyone knows these are bribes. The only people who won't acknowledge it are corporate politicians on both sides and the corporate media. This is a sick system that lets people die for profit. Any politician that takes money from the drug companies is selling out their voters on behalf of their donors."
• "No one thinks JP Morgan Chase is giving a politician money for their health or for charity. Everyone knows it's a bribe. And if they give that same politician a second 'contribution' that means they got a return on investment. And to be fair to them, an American politician is the most profitable thing you can buy. And they're almost all up for sale. This is a sick system that has to be fixed immediately. I'm running in CA-25 to make sure we end the obvious bribery and the brazen corruption."

Cenk isn't going to be another weak-knee-ed freshman driven by careerist calculations. We're looking at a real fighter who is as likely to given Pelosi and Hoyer a tough time as he is to drive McCarthy, Trump and MoscowMitch up a wall.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party establishment, headed by Mark Gonzalez, is trying to bum-rush Uygur out of the race. Giving lip service to progressive notions is one thing-- seeing a real live progressive gain power is a bit much, in fact way too much-- for an establishment schlepper like Gonzalez.

Last month, on November 13, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent made one of the most memorable statements to the House Intelligence Committee when he said "you can’t promote principled anti-corruption action without pissing off corrupt people." Give that a couple moments of contemplation. In fact, while you're contemplating, or after, give this timely 6 minute polemic by Robert Reich a listen. He's talking about electability in terms of the 2020 presidential race but what he's saying about inspiration isn't just about Elizabeth and Bernie. It's not complicated; it is, however crucial if we're going to build a movement:





What Kent said about corruption is a truth that is felt by any political candidate with the moxie to run on an anti-corruption platform, and what progressive candidates like Cenk Uygur have been facing. The Santa Clarita establishment and state and national Democratic Party insiders are keen to see the seat filled by corporate Democrat Christy Smith.

Uygur has made opposition to political corruption a cornerstone of his campaign and has been blunt and outspoken with his views about removing money and corporate lobbying from politics. In his speech announcing his candidacy, Uygur declared in no uncertain terms, "I’m going to fight to get money out of politics, and I’m going to call it like it is. You know what campaign donations are from big corporations and lobbyists? Bribes. They’re bribes when Republicans take them, they’re also bribes when Democrats take them."

Those bribes and the politicians who take them have a detrimental effect on the everyday lives of Californians, as Uygur explains, "we have ridiculously low wages and a horrible healthcare system because politicians took money from those industries to sell you out."

It is no wonder why party insiders want to keep Uygur out; they have too much at stake to lose. That is why gatekeepers at official organizations like the Los Angeles County Democratic Party (LACDP) have made very undemocratic moves to keep an anti-corruption candidate like Uygur from getting a fair opportunity to make his case to members.

Gonzalez

Recently, Gonzalez, who has been eagerly putting his thumb on the scale in favor of Christy Smith, made it clear that "no club is to have any involvement with Cenk," according to one of LACDP’s chartered Antelope Valley clubs. The statement came in response to Uygur's plans to participate with that club in a Christmas Parade sponsored by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. Not an official campaign event for any specific candidate, all candidates were invited to participate. And what makes this Gonzalez incident especially egregious is that the LACDP has not yet endorsed any candidate, and has yet to announce when their endorsement process will even take place. The club refused to exclude Uygur since it would have indicated a clear case of bias.

A different LACDP charted club located in Santa Clarita, home of Christy Smith, moved schedules and deadlines around, only giving the information to their favored candidate. Recently, the Democratic Alliance for Action (DAA) has moved up the date of their endorsement meeting from January 23, to December 11, without notifying candidates other than Christy Smith, in an effort to ensure her endorsement by the club, and deny Uygur a platform.

The same tactic was used by the California State Democratic Party which abruptly set their endorsement meeting to Saturday, December 14 at the same location as the DAA meeting, with only two weeks’ notice and, as with DAA, did not notify the Uygur campaign. In the case of the State endorsement meeting, the party did not provide Uygur with a list of delegates as of this publication, while the Smith Campaign has had a healthy head start contacting delegates.

One potential reason why Gonzalez is so interested in silencing progressives is because of the cozy relationship he and the LACDP have with corporate Democrats, Christy Smith's campaign being just one example. The Smith Campaign hired the wife of the President of the DAA who also happens to be the DAAs former president to work on her campaign in the hopes that she can surreptitiously influence the club’s membership into supporting her.

Gonzalez has justified using his influence against Uygur by citing discredited right-wing smears against the progressive candidate. Gonzalez said in a statement, "Cenk Uygur’s comments are both heartless and disqualifying for someone who wants to serve the people’s U.S. House of Representatives. The Los Angeles County Democratic Party does not tolerate hate or discrimination against any group or community. Instead, we celebrate the Democratic values of inclusivity, fairness, diversity and compassion of and for people of all backgrounds and communities. Cenk Uygur’s shameful comments underscore the fact that he believes in the opposite-- and as a result he does not belong in Congress." In his statement, Gonzalez conveniently doesn’t address the dated nature of the comments, and the context behind them. Watch how Cenk responds to the right-wing smears that are being so conveniently marketed by Christy Smith and her allies like Gonzalez:




It is clear that the behind-the-curtain antics of Gonzalez and others at the Los Angeles County Democratic Party as well as the State Democratic Party, are the first layer of the onion of corruption that progressive candidates are attempting to unpeel. If it was one instance, then perhaps it could be dismissed as an oversight, or unprofessional, but to engage in a sustained effort to silence progressive voices in favor of candidates who are open for purchase by lobbyists and moneyed interests is a stain upon the Democratic Party in California.

Meanwhile, the forces behind Smith have assembled a long list of nearly every establishment politician in the state to endorse her. The latest was Nancy Pelosi, who took time out from passing Trump's Pentagon budget, from handing Trump a victory over NAFTA 2.0, from allowing partisan politics to ruin the impeachment process, from betraying the American people with a weak and pusillanimous drug pricing bill, from her efforts to busy the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-All... to endorse Christy Smith. "California State Assemblywoman Christy Smith is a proven leader," she shat out of her mouth, clueless of anything about Smith whatsoever and attempting to mislead the voters in CA-25 the same way she misleads in everything she does these days. "We need her in Congress so that she can help advance our for the people agenda in Washington. I am proud to endorse Christy Smith because she will work to fight corruption, lower the cost of prescription drugs, fully fund public schools and build a strong middle-class economy that works for all Americans." All bullshit. Christy Smith actually favors corruption and is furious with Uygur for making it an issue. To Pelosi, she's just another obedient careerist backbencher who will disappear after being elected and never be heard from again, other than bu her donors when she calls them for contributions to finance another sadly meaningless career in politics.

And Ro isn't the only Democrat from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party countering Pelosi and her mob trying to force another corporatist nothing into Congress. "For years," said Bernie yesterday, "Cenk has inspired people all across the country to organize against corrupt forces in our politics, and now he’s organizing the people in his district to do the same... I’m endorsing Cenk because I know he will serve ordinary people, not powerful special interests. He is a voice that we desperately need in Congress and will be a great representative for CA-25 and the country."