Below is the content of a letter I wrote and sent to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chairwoman of the DNC, with a cc to Amy Dacey, CEO of the DNC.

May 19, 2016

Dear Chairwoman Schultz:

You could consider this a wake-up call, although I highly doubt that you will view it in those terms at this stage of the game. Before I begin, let me say that I’m not a millennial female, although I have to say that my daughter is and I find her a much more critical thinker than the majority of women who are supporting Hillary Clinton for the presidency. I am a 62-year-old female who, until last year, was a loyal Democrat. My parents before me were loyal Democrats. However, that was at a time when the Democratic party was a vastly different entity.

I am no longer a Democrat, and I do not intend to return to the party during my lifetime. Last year, I was a member of the Green Party. This year, I registered as an Independent because, in the state of Massachusetts, you can vote in the primaries and the general without declaring loyalty to any party. That’s the way it should be across the United States. Now, I’m going to tell you why I no longer intend to support the Democrats in any form.

First, I no longer believe that there is any appreciable difference between you and the GOP. Oh, I know. You’ll cite a women’s right to choose, gay rights, and a whole host of other social issues. That’s bunk. Under your leadership, women’s rights on a state-by-state basis have been vastly diminished. Where is the national dialogue about this issue? There hasn’t been one, frankly. I’d also like to mention that in addition to being a woman, I am also a lesbian. Nobody in the Democratic party, not Barack Obama or anybody else, was responsible for our successes with regards to same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs, along with those who fought along side the plaintiffs from both GLAD and AFER, take the credit for that. You can spin this any which way you choose, but we know who is responsible. Now, that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on.

During Barack Obama’s two terms in office, the Democrats not only signed onto a cut in Food Stamps for the poor, but recently signed on to a GOP plan to cut veterans benefits. Those do not sound like moves that the Democratic Party should be making. Those are definitely things that the GOP would pass. Yet, you managed to join the ranks of the party you spend your time demonizing to us voters. In addition, the public option was supposed to be part of Obamacare. Yet, that was dropped. Let’s not, please, blame the GOP. That was dropped before it ever got to the table because your president took millions of dollars from the health care industry to get elected. This brings me to this particular election cycle.

It is quite clear that the last person the DNC wants to see as president is Senator Bernie Sanders. That’s unfortunate because he’s more of a “real” Democrat than the candidate your forcing down our throats at this point. Hillary Clinton is taking money from Wall Street and the millionaires. Perhaps none of you got the memo, but that is exactly what is pissing off your base. We’ve had enough of the wealthy running the nation and determining policy. The vast majority of the people in this nation do not live in that zip code. Yet, the majority of the laws that are passed favor the needs and wants of the nation’s wealthiest citizens. The reason you do not want Senator Sanders as president is that he’ll change the system that works so well for all of you. You have been marginalizing his campaign from the very beginning, and the corporate-owned media has been aiding and abetting you all the way. Congratulations. Your corruption has risen to previously unimaginable heights. Suddenly, against DNC rules, we’re counting super-delegates. They do not really count until July but, if it helps out Hillary Clinton, we’ll count them now.

The super-delegate “system” (if that’s what you want to call it) is patently un-American and makes a mockery of voting. Personally, I don’t want millionaire politicians like Al Franken and dirtbag lobbyists like Howard Dean going against the will of the people and deciding which candidate is best for the nation. Does that sound like Democracy to you? Because if it does, you and I didn’t learn American history from the same books. Not even the dreaded GOP has a super-delegate system in place. Imagine that.

Now, all I hear from the Democratic talking-heads and their mouthpieces on television is how Bernie Sanders has to drop out and we all have to unite behind Hillary Clinton for the good of the party. Well, let me tell you how we feel about that. The Clintons are responsible for the downfall of the Democratic party with their third-way triangulation tactics employed when Bill Clinton was president. This transformation began then. It has gone downhill since then. There is nothing that the Clinton Clan has done that has benefited the Democratic party, and I mean NOTHING. In addition, the Democratic Party has done nothing to warrant the loyalty of its base. In fact, you have turned your back on your base. Therefore, we will not be uniting behind Hillary Clinton for the good of the party. As far as I’m concerned, the Democratic Party is dead on arrival. Done. I need you to hear me very clearly: Do not think that I am the only person who feels this way. There are literally millions of us. You have brought this on yourselves.

Now, a few words about you, Senator Wasserman Schultz. Not only is your candidate being bought and paid for by Wall Street, but so are the Democrats. Under your watch, all restrictions on lobbyist donations have been rolled back and, recently, you joined your GOP counterparts to help out predatory pay-day lenders. You really ought to be ashamed of yourself, but you’re far too arrogant for that. It’s amazing to me how Representative Tulsi Gabbard had to step down from her DNC Vice Chair position in order to support Bernie Sanders, but you clearly have done everything in your power to derail his campaign in favor of Hillary Clinton and you’re still in your position. Apparently the DNC rules on neutrality don’t apply to you because you’re clearly in Clinton’s camp.

In addition, the Democratic Party is apparently not interested in the irregularities happening at polling places (actually, I call it cheating), the disenfranchisement of millions of voters, and the shenanigans that went on at the Nevada Convention. The DNC Chair in Nevada indulged in blatant cheating on Hillary Clinton’s behalf. Do not attempt to excuse it, because it has happened in several other states like Arizona and New York. By the way, there was no violence from Sanders’ supporters. Even the “reporter” who broke the story admitted he embellished the story for “atmosphere.” One would think he was writing a novel instead of reporting hard news. What a joke. In fact, the only person arrested in Nevada was a Hillary Clinton supporter who assaulted a Bernie Sanders supporter. I suggest that you and your minions in the media stop spreading lies about Senator Sanders calling for violence in Philly. He is not. By the same token, we will not be quiet anymore. We will be heard. We do not have to “stand down.” You seem to have forgotten that you are public servants working for the citizens of this nation. You do not have the power to take away our right to peaceably assemble.

I need you to think about this: A Senator with very little public spotlight, with no millionaires or Wall Street executives buying his way to the White House, and without lamestream (no, that’s not a typo) media coverage (unless it’s negative) has taken on the most powerful candidate in modern American history and he just keeps on winning. Doesn’t that tell the DNC something? Or are you really all that stupid?

I, and millions of others, do wholeheartedly support Senator Sanders all the way through the Democratic convention. Everyone in this nation has a right to vote, and we already know that neither candidate will have enough delegates to secure the nomination until the convention, no matter what kind of funky math the DNC wants to use. However, we are not sheep. If Senator Sanders does not prevail and chooses to support Hillary Clinton after the convention, that is his right. Millions of us will not follow him over that cliff. The time has come for this political system to change, and we are painfully aware that there is no chance in hell that it will change under a Clinton regime.

Sincerely,

Deb Della Piana

Citizen

cc: Amy Dacey, CEO

Categories: 2016, Democrats, Elections, The 99%

Tags: 2016 elections, corruption, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrats, DNC, Hillary Clinton