It's another pleasant, drizzly Wednesday night in the tropics. This time we're at HOOCH, the speakeasy famous for its designer cocktails that has recently become the place to go to for decent house music in Salcedo Village.
It's my first time to play at HOOCH, although Ines and I have been to the bar plenty of times. The place is small and dark, with a long bar along its right side and two screens showing Charlie Chaplin movies. Outside, a couple of couches, and wooden cocktail tables facing Leviste Street. The night's organizer Jimmy Electriscoot sets up early on Wednesdays, and makes sure to include his Warfedale sub and the hi-fi monitor speakers for a fuller sound outside. I start at about 10pm when there's already a good number of friends in the crowd. I feel this burning need to play uplifting house music all night long.
***
The day is a particularly glum one for me on a personal level. This morning, Bernie Sanders announced his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, which means the bitter end to the revolution he’s been leading and that we’ve been following so fervently for the last year. For once, I thought there’s a possible solution to many of the problem plaguing the United States and the world. Finally, I thought, there was a guy that couldn't be bought, one with a moral compass that pointed him in the right direction, the compass of justice, compassion, equality, and solidarity.
He proudly called himself a Democratic Socialist and it just didn't matter... this 'assumed' negative did not slow down his popular campaign that swept through the country like a wildfire. His ideas turned out to be right in line with the majority of the country. In less than a year, he was able to close a 60 point gap in the polls versus Hillary, who had the full weight of the establishment behind her: the donors, the Democratic party, the corporate media.
Wherever he went, he filled stadiums. It didn't matter whether it was Milwaukee, Wisconsin--home of some the last standing organized labor movements, deep red Louisiana Baton Rouge, or liberal Portland, Oregon. Crowds were always over eight thousand people, and sometimes over twenty seven thousand people.
And all of this was accomplished with virtually zero coverage on the nightly cable news, no coverage in the papers--unless it was to call him "a socialist" or "old". Everywhere you went, people were buzzing about Bernie Sanders. When he'd visit the late night shows, he’d consistently get standing ovations and break the ratings. Videos of these appearances went viral. Everyone was #feelingtheBern
This is a man that was arrested for fighting for civil rights with Martin Luther King in the 60s, and that invited Noam Chomsky to talk to his constituents the citizens of Burlington, Vermont, in the 80s about the harm that US foreign policy was causing in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and debating what these citizens could do to be part of the solution. He grilled Fed Chairman Allan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin in ‘89 about the deregulation of banks that caused the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, and opposed the 2008 bank bailouts that had no strings attached to speak of. He stood virtually alone against the Iraq war in 2003, and he took delegations of Vermont residents across the border to Canada to see how cheap drugs were and how efficiently their single-payer health care system worked.
He came out strong against fracking, against the TPP, against GMOs, and against the industrial prison complex, even against the police’s brutality versus minorities. He came out strong against the highest levels of income and wealth inequality recorded in modern history and against a disappearing middle class. He strongly supported ending the death penalty, supported gun control, supported immigration reform that allowed 11 million people to come out of the shadows, supported a $15 minimum wage, supported paid family leave, supported free tuition in public universities, supported breaking up the big banks, and supported peace in the Middle East.
His message was clear, his platform was plainly outlined at every event, his views were unequivocally expressed in every interview. He insisted on running an issued-oriented campaign, he never ran a negative ad, he never went after his opponent personally. However, he made sure to highlight the differences of opinion he had with Clinton and his other opponents.
Unlike him, Clinton did not have the crowds, she did not have a clear message, and did not have much of a grass roots campaign. She did, however, have unparalleled access to Wall Street money. Every industry that had supported her or her husband in the past came to her rescue. That money translated into ads, which in addition to being a big microphone, meant great influence in the media. It bought consultants and alliances within the party, and it presumably bought many irregularities in the voting systems throughout states that have democratic governors. The result? Much fewer polling stations open than in 2012, tricky closed primaries, provisional ballots, and incomplete vote counting, among many others.
At the end of the day, these things all seemed to slightly surpass the organic Sanders campaign, built mainly on speaking events. When polls taken right before the election in states such as California showed Sanders beating Clinton by single digits, the media projected Hillary the winner with a 65-35 margin, even when 3 million provisional votes had yet to be counted. In order to avoid exit polls showing much different results, the television networks that normally commission these polls cancelled them. In state after state, irregularities abounded and always favored Clinton. This is most clearly illustrated by the 6 tie breaker coin tosses in the Iowa caucus on the first election night that all come out favoring Clinton. The odds of getting this result are 1 in 64.
Furthermore, Clinton locked up virtually all the "super-delegates" of the democratic party, which accounted for 15% of the total delegates required to win the nomination. And even though these delegates don’t decide until they cast their vote, the media would insistently report them as if they already voted for Clinton.
It didn't help that, on the Republican side, Donald Trump had won the GOP's nomination, riding on an anti-establishment wave fueled by frustration, bigotry, and racism. His election to be sure would change life as we know it in the United States. He promised to build a wall separating the country from its southern neighbor. He promised to keep all Muslims out of the nation "until [he] can figure out what's going on." He said he wouldn't mind defaulting on the country's creditors and try to renegotiate "a better deal"--something that would result in the irreversible devaluation of the dollar and destroy the economy. He is for the unfettered right for everyone to carry guns everywhere, even if gun deaths are breaking new records each year. He tacitly welcomes the support of the KKK, he supports the right of cops to be as brutal as they wanna be… he wholeheartedly encourages the use of waterboarding. He seems ready to start a war with Iran to "get back the hundreds of billions we gave them." But worst of all is his ability to change his position on any issue without any shame. He is wildly unpredictable, and has the uncanny ability to capture headlines daily.
Bernie was put in a very difficult position. If he fights Hillary in the convention and beyond (or run on a third party ticket), he risks bringing about a Trump presidency. The odds that he would beat Trump in a head-to-head match up were high (the polls say 13%), but there were no polls showing 3-way results. It is now apparent that Sanders did not want to live with the consequences if that happened to be the outcome.
So today, Bernie endorsed Hillary. It was the most uncomfortable thing to watch. It was obvious that Sanders did not mean any of it, and that he just said what he had to say. The awkward pat he gave Hillary on the back spoke volumes. Hillary was smiling disturbingly throughout the press conference. Hearts dropped across the country as he uttered the words we never imagined hearing. For a moment, it seemed the revolution was over. He explained the compromises he made with Clinton’s campaign and the concessions he got. However, these seemed like just the tip of the iceberg of the things we wanted and hoped to get.
***
I choose to remember this election by that Disney moment when a bird landed on Bernie’s podium at a rally in Oregon with a full stadium watching, and Sanders saying “I think there may be some symbolism here. I know it doesn’t look like it, but that bird is really a dove asking us world peace.” The stadium went bananas with tearful cheers, and even the corporate media could not help but report on the magical moment.
Today we mourn. Tonight we dance. Tomorrow we get back up and fight on for a better world.
The playlist:
01 Morris (Phil Asher’s Restless Soul Remix) Bah Samba
02 My City My Life (Cassio’s Theme) Playin' 4 The City meets The Deep
03 Give And Let Live (Louie Vega & Joe Claussell Dub) The Hope Collective
04 Misery (Lil Louis Extended Mix) Kimara Lovelace
05 Love Aquilas Coisas Todas (EOL Mix) Luisito Quintero
06 Children of The World (Louie Vega Vo-Club Mix) Elements of Life feat. Josh Milan
07 I Got Life (Kemeticjust Original Deep Mix) KemeticJust
08 Momma's Grooves (Jimpster's Hip Replacement Mix) Osunlade
09 Never Ending Song (Cherise) Lil Louis
10 Let It Rain (Ezel Remix) Mustafa feat Flexie Muiso
11 Don't You Ever Give Up (Ricanstruction Mix) Innervision feat. Melonie Daniels
12 Keep The Love Going (Original Mix) Byron Stingly
13 Loving Life (Right Now) Cofano & Troby feat. Nicole Mithchell
14 The Pianist (Soul Creative Mix) Fever Brothers
15 Brighter Days (Stephane's Liquid Club Mix) Big Moses feat. Kenny Bobien
16 To Another Day (Frankie Feliciano Brooklyn Mix) Dj Vivona feat. Miss D
17 That Thing About Deep (Munsen's Main Mix)
18 Better Days (Original Mix) Danny Clark & Jay Benham feat. Annette Taylor
19 It’s Yours (Original Distant Music mix) Jon Cutler feat. E-Man
20 Back Together (Director's Cut Classic Club Mix) Hardsoul feat. Ron Carroll
