Counterpunch has the article Chris Hedges on Bernie Sanders and the Corporate Democrats.

“Because the party is completely captive to corporate power,” Hedges said. “And Bernie has cut a Faustian deal with the Democrats. And that’s not even speculation. I did an event with him and Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and Kshama Sawant in New York the day before the Climate March. And Kshama Sawant, the Socialist City Councilwoman from Seattle and I asked Sanders why he wanted to run as a Democrat. And he said — because I don’t want to end up like Nader.”

“He didn’t want to end up pushed out of the establishment,” Hedges said. “He wanted to keep his committee chairmanships, he wanted to keep his Senate seat. And he knew the forms of retribution, punishment that would be visited upon him if he applied his critique to the Democratic establishment. So he won’t.”

Giving Chris Hedges the benefit of the doubt, it is quite possible that Bernie Sanders did say to him “because I don’t want to end up like Nader.” The second paragraph above has Hedge’s inferences of what Sanders had in mind. I only mention that to raise the possibility that what Sanders said is not exactly how Hedges interpreted it.

Elsewhere in the article Hedges said the following:

“That’s why I was a strong supporter of your independent runs,” Hedges told Nader. “That’s why I voted for (Green Party Presidential candidate) Jill Stein in the last election. But they have to be outside the system. And we have to begin to build movements that are divorced from the Democratic and Republican parties. My fear is that by this time next year, Bernie Sanders is running around once again repeating this mantra of the least worst and stoking fears against whoever the Republican candidate is. And we’ve gone nowhere.”

I don’t understand the idea that voting for Nader or Jill Stein produced any results. I say that knowing full well that even I could end up voting for Stein in 2016.

At least at this stage of the game, supporting Bernie Sanders is the most plausible way to play the game. He could win the nomination. If he doesn’t, then we have to consider what to do next. Going to the next step before we know if he could have won doesn’t seem to be the best strategy available to us right now.

Considering the possibilities Hedges talks about, and being open about them right now is probably a good idea strategically. I think it is better strategy than pretending this doesn’t exist. It always pays to let your candidate know what the consequences might be if they betray your trust in them. Perhaps that is what was left out of the article – the consequences for Bernie Sanders if he turns out not to be the real deal.

Thanks to Cedric Flower for sharing this on his Facebook timeline.