Judging by DNC standing committee appointments, uniting the party is not a priority

Last month, I read about how the Clinton campaign plans to disqualify Sanders and unify the party later. That plan hasn't panned out. In fact, if anyone is going to be disqualified, the smart money is on Clinton to be disqualified for gross negligence as Secretary of State. Too bad we have to wait for a Clinton supporter in the person of the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch to get off her duff and prosecute Clinton. She will never forget how she was appointed by Bill Clinton now, will she?

To the chagrin and fury of Clinton supporters, Sanders is still in the race, biding his time at rallies all over California while drawing huge crowds. There's plenty to see on Facebook and Google Plus now for anyone who wants to look. Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco and Los Angeles is coming up. It's hard to look at those videos and pics and not think that there is a landslide of potential energy waiting for June 7th.

Polling indicates that Sanders has closed the gap in California and nationally, he beats Trump where Clinton loses or is tied. All of the comfortable leads that Clinton had are either in a tie or upside down for her.

If the Clinton team are sincere about unifying the party, perhaps that is only because they know they need Sanders supporters to win it. Sorry, but most Sanders supporters are running a hard line against Clinton. I know I am. It was only 33% a few months ago. I think that the sentiment is far worse now that anyone had imagined it might be. One poll I found suggested that 90% or better would not vote for Clinton under any circumstance.

The entire argument for Sanders supporters to vote for Clinton is one based on fear: fear of Trump as president. Although fear can be a motivating force for action, honey works much better. Is the DNC, acting on behalf of Clinton, offering any honey? Judging by the latest convention news, not much, really. According to USUncut and numerous other sources, the DNC has only appointed 3 out of 45 names provided by Bernie Sanders. See below:

Under the party’s rules, the DNC chair has the power to appoint 25 at-large executive committee members to each committee. Out of the 45 names Sen. Sanders submitted, Wasserman Schultz only appointed three, none of whom are serving on the rules committee, which is arguably the most important.

Seriously? Just 3 of 45 from Sanders received committee seats? Then to add insult to injury, they appointed Barney Frank and Governor Dan Malloy to chair key committees for the convention, both of whom are openly hostile to Sanders. An attorney for Sanders has even written a letter to request that they be removed from their positions. That request was rejected in a hurry.

It appears that elite Democrats really do not want Sanders to have any influence on how the Democratic Party will move forward from the date of the convention. I guess they feel like Sanders has crashed their party.

Sanders is proving the corruption of the system. He had to run as a Democrat to even get notice from the press. He had to run as a Democrat because the two major political parties have a monopoly on political power. The entire Democratic primary process is stacked to favor conservative Democrats. We call them "centrist" now, but that's because the electoral process in general has forced the whole country to accept conservative choices. Why else would red states in the deep south hold their primaries first?

The problem is that Democratic elites actually think they need to kiss ass with wealthy people, get their money and use it to get elected and re-elected. Not because they really need it, Sanders has proven that they don't. It's because they believe that if Democrats don't do it, Republicans will. It's peer pressure, plain and simple. Unfortunately for the Democrats, the biggest plank in Bernie Sanders' platform is to get big money out of politics.

That one simple idea, to get big money out of politics, is why I support Bernie Sanders. I agree with Sanders on many of the other issues, and some not so much. But he beat the money primary and still he is now poised to win California. If he wins California, it's going to be hard for the unpledged delegates, the superdelegates, to vote en masse for Hillary and be able to justify it. Remember, they haven't actually voted yet. Superdelegates don't get to vote until the convention.

Would they want to alienate millions of voters who could cost Clinton the election? I don't think so. If elite Democrats are serious about unifying the party, they had better give Sanders more appointments on the standing committees before the convention. That's just a start.

Sanders supporters? They see the headwinds and they've got other plans if the nomination eludes Sanders himself. Even if he wins, Sanders supporters are already working on a Brand New Congress. Sanders can't prosecute a peaceful revolution alone. He has said it over and over again: he needs everybody's help. He has also informed us that he's nobody's savior.

Sanders just wants to be a catalyst for meaningful positive change in this country. For his children, grandchildren and their children. Just like the rest of us.