DNC Day 1

I tried to watch some of the Republican National Convention last week, but every time I tuned in, some speaker was screaming about Hillary and the crowd was chanting "Lock her up! Lock her up!" or other unintelligible stuff. It was so dark, bitter, and angry. 

GOP: "Everything is horrible! The economy is in freefall! The military is decimated! Liberals are releasing hardened criminals to rape your daughters and kill you!!" (sigh). Lie after lie.

They didn't have many elected Republicans appear on stage either. No wonder. Who wants to be associated with that garbage?

The first night of the Democratic National Convention was very different. Sure, there were denunciations of Donald Trump, but the charges were a lot more fact-based this week instead of shrill opinion-based like last week.

Still, sometimes the Bernie backers or the Black Lives Matter people chanted enough to make it hard to hear the speaker. However, a chant of "We want Bernie!" or "Black Lives Matter" is in a different galaxy from "Lock her up!"

Bernie Sanders' supporters need to understand that defeating Donald Trump is paramount this November. And that will mean voting for Hillary. IF you respect Bernie, listen to him.

Next Steps for Our Revolution

By Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News

26 July 16

 ur campaign has always been about a grassroots movement of Americans standing up and saying: "Enough is enough. This country and our government belong to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires."

I just finished speaking at the Democratic National Convention, where I addressed the historic nature of our grassroots movement and what's next for our political revolution.

I hope that I made you proud. I know that Jane and I are very proud of you.

Our work will continue in the form of a new group called Our Revolution. The goal of this organization will be no different from the goal of our campaign: we must transform American politics to make our political and economic systems once again responsive to the needs of working families.

We cannot do this alone. All of us must be a part of Our Revolution.

Join Our Revolution and help continue our critical work to create a government which represents all of us, and not just the 1 percent – a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice. Add your name here.

When we started this campaign a little more than a year ago, the media and the political establishment considered us to be a "fringe" campaign. Well, we're not fringe anymore.

Thanks to your tireless work and generous contributions, we won 23 primaries and caucuses with more than 13 million votes, all of which led to the 1900 delegates we have on the floor this week at the Democratic convention.

What we have done together is absolutely unprecedented, but there is so much more to do. It starts with defeating Donald Trump in November, and then continuing to fight for every single one of our issues in order to transform America.

We are going to fight to make sure that the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party becomes law. This means working for a $15 federal minimum wage, fighting for a national fracking ban, and so many more progressive priorities.

The political revolution needs you in order to make all this happen and more.

Add your name to say that you will join Our Revolution and be part of the fight for our progressive vision for America.

Thank you for being a part of the continued political revolution.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

Original.

To paraphrase: