By Harold Pease, Ph. D

The first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) was Bernie Sanders night and it took him three minutes to begin his speech mid continuous crowd applause. The interruptions of  “Ber–nie!!, Ber–nie !!” and “We want Bernie!” chants were unmistakable.  It was his convention.  His warriors were clearly in place to fight for him and not Hillary Clinton.  He was the “legitimate” Democratic Party presidential nominee.  Hillary had engineered a fraudulent victory through her Super Delegates, they believed, “designed from the beginning to ensure her victory,” should she not be able to manage the masses in her favor.  Besides, she was corrupt.

So much for a party that had always pushed the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.” Obviously the Super Delegate concept was undemocratic.

Sanders had built a socialist movement of Democrats from his initial following of but 6% to around 50% (delegate vote day 2 of the Convention was 40%) against a candidate that had been anointed by Wall Street as far back as 2008.  Hillary belonged to corporate America. Sander’s supporters booed and jeered at any mention of her.

This loyalty was intensified, and the Democratic National Convention embarrassed, when it was revealed by WikiLeaks, the Friday before the Philadelphia Convention, that some DNC emails were designed to undermine Sanders in his race for the nomination.  One such was to cause him to acknowledge that he was atheist, a negative to help bring him down in close Christian states such as Kentucky and West Virginia. His following became even more anti-Hillary and dedicated to his becoming the party nominee.  Suddenly the Clinton Email Scandal, although not really related except for the deception that was common to both events, became relevant to them.  “Feel the Bern” followers outside the conventions clearly were upset.

His constant theme, “The top one-tenth of 1 percent now own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent,” had resonated with his devoted followers.  He had successfully hinted throughout the campaign that Hillary had represented the 1% her entire political career and was funded by them now.  Indeed, Hillary is the establishment

How rich is she?  It is difficult to separate her money from that of her husband and sources are often dated and elusive on the subject but all sources show her very rich and therefore the 1% –the enemy class that Sanders most opposed.  As of 2012, the Center for Responsive Politics “estimated Hillary Clinton’s net worth at between $5.2 and $25.5 million.”   Mother Jones magazine, May 21, 2014, estimated that she made $5 million alone her last 15 months as Secretary of State.  In 2008 when she last ran for president she was listed as having $34.9 million.

Bill Clinton’s resources add millions more.  The book “Clinton Cash,” by Peter Schweizer, perhaps the most authoritarian source on the subject, has Bill Clinton making, during Hillary’s four-year stint as Secretary of State, “about $48 million of a $105 million speaking haul amassed between 2001 and 2013;” spiking during Hillary’s tenure at $7.5, $10.7, $13.4 and finally $17 million her last year in office.

“More than half of the $48 million was paid by companies in China, Japan, Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands, among others.”  Most reason that these nations were buying influence from Hillary by lavishing her husband with hundreds of thousands of dollars for a speech.  It was also no secret that she could become the next president.

The initial endless chorus of elation changed to “Ber…nie“ chants throughout his speech. Then followed Sanders endorsement of his supposed ideological enemy,  “Based on her ideas and her leadership Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States.”  Clinton supporters roared but Sanders supporters were stunned.  “Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president, and I am proud to stand with her here tonight,” continued Sanders.

Sanders effectively fell on his own sword mid a chorus of boos and thumbs down signs by his own followers, but the boos were unmistakable.  Some networks refused to show crowd scenes of thumbs down they were so biased in Hillary’s favor.  Others stormed out of the Convention holding up Bernie signs and chanting, “Hey, hey, D.N.C., we won’t vote for Hillary.”

His carefully nurtured followers, most millennials, were not prepared, as older voters, to be sold out.  Having been used they had nowhere to go but to the same people that Sanders had convinced them had always been the ruling establishment—the 1 percent.   His asking, the next day, for the suspension of the rules allowing her to be nominated for president of the United States by acclamation reeked of hypocrisy and betrayal.  Some of his followers again walked out.

Bernie Sanders demonstrations continued outside the Convention on day 2 most demonstrators disillusioned with the political system or vowing to go to Donald Trump or another political party.  Most inside the Convention will probably plug their nose and switch to Hillary but confidence that she will continue his revolution is small.

Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.