Never normal

                     Our worst nightmare...
                          Complacency!

They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha

As  dumb as a doorknob
A soul sucking pod
He comes from the gutter
The wizard of odd

Though few are now rootin’

He screams, “I am smart.”

A puppet of Putin

A currency heart

The great orange ogre

A galdurn galoot

An unfunny joker

In a Chinese suit

He’s mad beyond reason

Obstructor deluxe

He dabbles with treason

And steals your bucks

A con of deception

A phony salute

His orange complexion

Will match his new suit

America greater?

He did what he could

A would be dictator 

He makes Pence look good

Turn the Page

So here I am, back at home again.  Recovering from a total knee replacement.  I look around and find that the country has undergone a total sanity replacement.

Vladimir Putin is President.  The supreme racist Stephen Bannon, is the new gangster in chief, the Grand Dragon of ghouls. Hermann Goering is Secretary of State, and Goebbels has been replaced as minister of propaganda by the cruel cretinous comb over cutthroat game show host we all love to hate.

We are living in interesting times.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Rantaclaus.  He is all over the TV dispensing lumps of coal to those who mine this foul substance and to the rest of us whether we like it or not.  We must all be naughty.

Muslims are the new Jews.

We are all afraid of what we know or worse, what we do not yet know.  We are scared of things that go Trump in the night.

The resistance is alive and well.  We are prepared for some tough years. We are firmly convinced that we will prevail as good Americans have always done in the face of lunacy and other challenges to our Democracy.   We  emerge stronger in the process.

Remember, these malicious misfits live by the gospel of divide and conquer. For us there must be no white, black or green. We are:  Environmentalists, Feminists, Progressives, Liberals, We the People,  All the People. All of the 57 varieties of sexual preference named by National Geographic, the poor, the poorer and the persecuted must unite for a single purpose:  to preserve the Union.  The banner under which we gather is merely symbolic, our purpose is vital, unrelenting.

 

My advice:  embrace the fear and rise above it.

We are the Phoenix, Goo goo g’joob!

Coup D'etat 2017

There we were on that dreaded day.  The founding fathers would say, "We did everything possible to prevent the situation in which we find ourselves."  My take was that this was the worst constitutional crisis in our history.  However I realized that these would be dictators have got nothing on the Civil War. We survived that.

The grief and despair of the Great Depression hurt us (and the rest of the world) deeply and we survived.  The nightmare of the Nazis and Japanese, a two front war, was eventually overcome by two great men:  Churchill and Roosevelt and the sacrifices of our incredible armed forces who faced the monster maniacs and won a war that had to be won for the sake of freedom in the world.
Too bad it didn't last.

Many European and other modern countries carried on where Roosevelt left off in creating Social Democracies, guaranteeing a safety net, universal health care, and higher education for those who wanted it.  What happened and how did it happen that the USA went the route of military industrial complex, war profiteers, and crooked medicine show hawkers more interested in marketing than researching cures?  Don't forget crooked banksters and insurance companies. It seems that the USA and Russia have an inordinate number of billionaires.

As the weasel said, "You knew I was a weasel when you let me into the chicken house."

So here we are.  To be honest I am sick to death of the moaning and groaning and also the same lame jokes. Tell me something I don't know. I may not be able to do much, but I am marched in Montpelier, Vermont on January 21.  Bernie Sanders spoke and we all listened.

These rich bitches masquerade in the cloak of fear and racism to achieve their true goal:  more money.  Why is it we elected an unscrupulous billionaire businessman and expected anything else?
Why are people so gullible?  Tell them what they want to hear and they would vote for Putin for which they may have already done.

What to do, what to do, what to do?  Organize and elect progressives from school boards to national legislators.  Hear this progressives:  unite, strategize, and never give up.  WE'RE STILL HERE! Let's summon the fire in our belly and fight back as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard and other prominent progressives do.  Take back America in 2018 and 2020.  These idiots are leaving the door open in their arrogant hubris.  Nothing is forever if we are willing to stand up and fight, not only for ourselves but for the families they seek to destroy, the poor who will die without the safety
net of health insurance and the scapegoated ethnic groups.  My advice:  provide safely zones for those in the greatest peril. It is deplorable to do less.

I refuse to watch the lies and misrepresentations of the corporate news sources.  Were they not the same swindlers who gave Trump billions of dollars in free publicity while ignoring the real story: the remarkable and positive campaign of the unlikely Bernie Sanders.  Bernie promised to carry on where Roosevelt left off.  What was in that for the corporations and rich guys?  Nothing at all.

You pay's your money and you takes your chance.  This time there are no return or exchanges.
To quote a famous teacher, "Throw the money changers out."  We must seize the opportunity today, in 2018, 2020 and beyond.  We will live through this and emerge stronger.  Hopefully we will learn from history this time.

Fight on, Carry on, Bern on.  Our Revolution must do no less.

We Must Do What We Must Do

Did you hear President Obama's speech last night? 
Wow! 
We needed to hear that. 
Thank you my friend.

There are those who would crucify me, oops, gas chamber me for saying that.  We must do what we must do.

On a personal note I am getting a knee replacement at the end of the month.  That might make me the world's first bionic atheist Jew. We must do what we must do.

Keep Democracy alive.  Keep Hope alive. We must do what we must do.

Do you hear me President, I mean Senator Warren?

The Chinese May Save Our Bacon

When the war comes, Trump and Pence will make a deal with Putin as the beastly monster did with Stalin.  These operatives are smarter than Hitler and will not attack Russia.  They know that a coalition of the Muslim world and the neo soviets are not beatable without a nuclear winter resulting.  They want dominance, not self-destruction.  What would be the point?  These guys are evil and smart unlike the previous most hideous person on the poor pathetic planet.  His minions were too scared and at the same time too indoctrinated to see the certain destruction.  After all Berlin was leveled.  When he knew defeat was inevitable, he turned his forces to the purpose of destroying unthinkably a people he despised.  Our guys would fight on and if loss was unavoidable then and only then would they contemplate the nuclear option.  Putin will turn on them, the reverse of Hitler attacking Stalin, a move which ultimately lost his war.

I discussed this with a smart progressive friend.  His take was that the world would say the hell with you and stand by while the United States destroyed itself.  I disagree.

The nations of the world would not entertain the prospect of annihalation.  Before that brink is reached it will be economic devastation that would drive the sane powers to intervene.  After all, a GREAT DEPRESSION would bring them down too.  It is not possible to isolate yourself from yet the most powerful economy.  They need that economy to remain buoyant even with the corrupt money changers.

The Chinese have a powerful economy as well.  Their chief trading partner is still the USA.  We are joined at the hip and they know it.

Trump hates the Chinese as he does the Muslim world.  The Saudis will partner militarily with the new USA as they do with the current American incarnation.  We arm them and they provide the western world with oil.  The Russians have an abundance of this foul substance and do not need anybody, economically or militarily.  However, it is not in their interest to save anybody’s bacon.  The have enough of their own.

That is the set - up, what is the answer if any? When history is reviewed, we know there is no love lost between the Chinese and the Russians.  George Orwell understood this dynamic when he wrote 1984 at the cusp between the end of the second world war and the onset of the cold war.  The three way shifting of alliances defined the cold war.  At this time, we see the Chinese partnering with the west because it is their economic benefit to do so.  That dynamic will be written in stone if the USA sinks into isolation and tacit neutrality with Putin or his successor.  The Chinese will have to ally with the floundering former American friends.  These Western nations have bacon to save as well.

No, the Chinese are not responsible for the “myth of global warming.”  The destruction of the environment would take them down with the rest of the planet and they are all too aware of that “inconvenient truth.”  After all, are they not manufacturing solar panels as if their life depended on this technology?  It does and they know it.  The Russians would be a poison partner and they know this reality as well.  The remaining sane western powers are their only hope and they ours.

Would England, Canada, and Australia along with weaker yet stable well intentioned countries be enough?  I doubt it.  The West needs the Chinese as the Chinese needs the West.  The only hope of standing off the neo America is this coalition.   Even then the odds are uncertain.

There are also wild cards such as India and Pakistan who could initiate the dreaded final demise all by themselves.  What will they do?  Who knows.  Also, the Russians will have their hands full when the southern Muslim provinces seize the opportunity for autonomy.  Orwell's premise will be thwarted.  He did not count on Russian solitary survival strategy.  Only if certain American suicide ensues would they be willing to intervene.

Perhaps I am full of cheese.    I could be wrong and I hope so.  I am paranoid and perhaps somebody has to be. If I am even close to the dreadful premise we will all be dead.  I don’t desire that grim outcome and neither, I believe do you.  Watch, listen and act.  What else is there?  Vigilance could be our only way out.  We best take 2018 then 2020 seriously before it is too late.  The constitution is still here. Jefferson, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, and Kennedy are still here.  We are still here. We are still here. We are still here.

A Joker in the Deck

There's a joker in poker I think

His eyeballs are blue and they’re pink

He never works hard

He’s the wild card

He sneers and he gives you a wink

Fifty-three and I think fifty-four

He’s never a stiff or a bore

He comes at no cost

Replacing the lost

Neglected rejected and sore

The joker is happy and sad

He’s useless and that makes him mad

A trickster deluxe

He steals your bucks

He knows he is kingly and bad

You don’t know his place or his way

He plays hide and seek every day

His stock and his trade

And where he was made

Are mysteries so dealers say

He’s naughty and haughty and cruel

An ace and an eight and a fool

His appetite grows

And so does his nose

He swims in a crazy whirlpool

He laughs and he cries out in pain

He’s timeless and sometimes insane

He’s short and he’s tall

He lives in us all

Deny him defy him in vain

  

Buyer's Remorse

What a Long Strange Trip Its Been.

Never in my lifetime or in the history of the United States in my opinion has there been such a weird election.  The contrast between Bernie and Chumpy is greater than day and night.  To me, in a celestial sense it is like a bright and beautiful nebula and sucking black hole:  one compassionate and hopeful and the other a mean greedy gross ghoulish foolish dangerous nightmare. Unfortunately this is happening and we are awake.

Sump pump will have trouble with the Republicans even more than the Democrats. Neither dumplestiltskin nor the wall street greedsters like to be told what to do or simply to go to hell. This Clash is anything but musical. It is more like the scratching of fingernails on a blackboard or the grinding of brakes with no pads.  The sound of crises is in the air and it hurts to even think about it.

I have tried to take the ostrich approach but you hear it and smell it through the sand.

Bernie would tell us to consider the fate of those of color, Muslims, Mexicans, the old, the young, women, men, and the unfortunate poor. The plight and number of the homeless will grow exponentially. Broken families, broken people and broken hearts will be the legacy of these malicious minions. They appear to be thriving at our ex pence.

I know a guy I used to call a friend.  Sure Joe is conservative and I am a proud progressive. We used to marvel and congratulate each other about our friendship despite our bipolar political relationship. The last time we spoke on the phone he would not let me speak.  He yelled at me like a banshee completely out of control. I tried to be respectful and entitle him to his opinion.  However, his tirade was replete with hatred, false information, and absolutely no reason or compromise.  His conservatism had morphed into a screaming maniac hate. Just like someone else we know, too terrible to consider. The ostrich is  diminished to death.  As painful as it is, I have to yank my head out of the comforting sand and confront the cold wind, ostracized in this blithering unreality. Nevertheless, I refuse to watch or listen to these heartless hangmen.  The sound will reach me anyway, an evil echo death rattle.

What these mad morons fail to realize is that when you consume the consumers their bubble economy will not survive. We all suffer. We may have buyer’s remorse sooner than you think. Even people like Joe will eventually feel the pain. When that hits home, how long will they revel in the gutter?  That is the horrible question.

Enough of this banal banter. We came within a hair of the exact opposite with the clean, honest, optimistic compassion of Bernie Sanders. Those who could see could “Feel the Bern.”  Our hearts sank as the political parties committed suicide and tried to take us down with them. We felt hope slipping away. Even the demon Democrat machine rejected the best shot of a Great America since Franklin Roosevelt declared the Economic Bill of Rights. He was a rich man helping the poor. Bernie has been in the congress and senate for twenty- five years and he is not rich. We came so far without pacs, corporations and cash dispensing lobbyists. We all gave a little and it added up to a lot. We awakened the dream and lost anyway. Go figure. Bernie lit the candle and we cannot allow it to be snuffed out.  Who else can protect the unprotected? I wonder what will happen when buyer’s remorse haunts the foolish.  I hope the light at the end of the tunnel is not a raging locomotive.  We’ll see. 

Fire in the Belly

Hillary Clinton, the anointed one, in the public eye since 1992, First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State was the least effective candidate.  Why?

Bernie Sanders never saw a podium he didn’t like.  Whether speaking to two or twenty thousand people he stayed true and positive:  The billionaires are denying the people a decent life.  A life of hope and promise.  He suggested a living wage, affordable college, universal accessible health care, a fair and compassionate society where hope and opportunity flourished. He made us aware that we could prosper in a nation of well fed and housed educated people.  He ranted and raved honestly and always stayed on message.  He implored people to “Feel the Bern."  He endorsed the political revolution and let us know with certainty that it would take millions of people working their beliefs to create change. This was not a cult of personality.  He stood for principals and ran a clean campaign.  He had fire in the belly.

Donald Trump has an ego as big as his self-proclaimed financial empire.  He ran a negative, racist campaign and appealed to angry hateful people. Everyone’s problems were the fault of a bloated ineffective government according to his version of just ass. He neglected to address the role of rich guys like himself who righteously kill opportunity for the sake of more money. The motivations were not altogether money. Poor discouraged people are suppressed and downtrodden. It is hard to find the the strength to fight when the battle is to survive with no home and inadequate food. He never missed an opportunity to tell us that he was smart. Intelligent people do not need to proclaim it. We can tell.  He preyed on the vulnerable and mocked the injured. He scapegoated people of ethnicity that he did not approve.  He stoked the flames of those who felt bypassed by the billionaire bastard's economic suppression. He incited, derided and recited his brand of invective.  He yelled and screamed. He had fire in the belly.

Hillary was a lukewarm Trump. She pretended to care and we saw through the lies.  She failed to campaign enough.  She was immersed in her inevitability.  Look up hubris in the dictionary and you will see a faded picture of Hillary.  She believed in herself but not in the people.  She limped along believing notoriety alone was enough.  She expected to win and avoided the possibility of loss.  She had no fire in the belly.

I’d like to be funny but laughter eludes me tonight. Perhaps I am tired of the futility of fanning the smoldering embers.

Progressives listen:  We need more people than Bernie alone to wake up the masses.  There must be fire in our bellies.  If there is not, we will forever live the dictates of a megalomaniac or just plain maniac.  We need a corps of believers in a better life.  We need a hotter flame in more bellies.  Persecution will not last forever.  As the hat says, “We’re still here!”  We need fire on the mountain and in the belly.

Hairy Plotter

Hairy Plotter

He who’s name must not be spoken:

Chump, lump, bump, stump, slump, sump pump, rump, dump, hump, clump, frump, jump plump grump.  Thump goes the weasel.

Oh hell, Voldemort it is; or as my wife likes to say:  Trumpelstiltskin the evil.

And let us not forget Shillary, the only Democrat in the world who could lose to the gruesome game show ghost.

She rose from the primordial ooze to break the grass ceiling.

Love trumps hate and laughter beats tears.  

Better to Bern than to cry.  

Who Are We?

:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door"

The words on our Statue of Liberty used to define the United States.

Now fear and those who voted for the demagogue president elect are attempting to redefine us.
How did we get here?  There are many explanations and each contains a piece of the fascist puzzle.
Hate, fear, racism and a perception of exclusion from the "good life" are some of the causes.

Once again the Republicans and Billionaire bankers and corporations, through legal bribery of public elected officials are the main culprits.  Once again people have been duped into voting against their self interest.  Who believes Mr. Trump is the champion of the poor vs. the billionaires?  He never pretended to be anything but the gutter rising to the top.  How long will this con persist?

Listen and learn:  The government may be ineffective and that is disgusting.  They have allowed the wealthy class to oppress the rest of us.  The actual problem is the billionaires sucking the resources and life from us.  The government is culpable due to corrupt elected representatives accepting bribes form lobbyists and corporate campaign contributions.

Bernie Sanders proved that an honest man with financial support in small donations from the rank and file can shake up an election and wake us up the potential for good that still lives in our country. We are in mortal danger of being crushed by unAmerican greedheads who would deny a document which has served us well for 230 years:  the Constitution.
The famous inscription on our Statue of Liberty faces outward and beckons the vulnerable to the "land of opportunity."

The answer begins with aid and sanctuary to those in peril.  Terrorism  More people are killed by violence in a week in Chicago than in a year by terrorists in the USA.  What is wrong with that picture.  I know a teacher in Chicago who hears the cries of kids in terror of their families being torn apart by deportation and even worse fates.  The image of the new reality are chilling. It has been seventy short years since the same happened in Germany.  Does anyone remember Hitler?
Apparently scapegoating remains effective.  Help the kids and their families stay together.  Where is the Party of "family values?"

Liberal organizations must unite and coordinate strategy to "make America compassionate again." In unity is strength.  We must stop lamenting and turn our words to action.  If we don't help, who will?

Oxymoron: Reality TV

Most importantly it is imperative that those us us in relatively secure positions are compelled to aid those most vulnerable.  We all know who these people are.  That is the way to be compassionate and do the right thing.  That is how we fulfill the promise of our revolution.

One of the big reasons we find ourselves in this nightmare circumstance is that many people do not understand that there is a difference between reality and television.  The entertainment divisions of networks have taken precedence over the news which used to be "fair and balanced."

Walter Cronkite is spinning in his grave.

"Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid scandals.
Don't want to be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handle"

A prophecy by B. Dylan

                                                                 

A Modern Underground Railroad

Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for nominating a weak candidate.  If Bernie had won the nomination, we would be rejoicing with President-Elect Sanders.  Unfortunately it did not turn out that way.  I am disgusted but not remorseful that I voted for the dishonorable Hillary Clinton. That vote reflects my fear and loathing of the alternative.  The glass ceiling is back in place.  Hillary and the Democrats are guilty of hubris and we all must pay the price.

Last night one of my adult daughters called me to see if I was alright.  She, my other daughter, my wife and many of my friends and associates were and are strong Bernie supporters.

The current debacle has raised more questions than answers.  I tried to allay her fears.  We will weather the storm.  The pendulum swings and we will succeed with our liberal progressive movement.  The mid term elections favor the party out of power.  Trump lost the popular vote which means that more voters rejected him overall.  That majority represents a lot of people.  I mentioned that since we live in poor rural areas, the money grabbers will most likely get to us last.  I advised her to try to fly under the radar and wait it out.

She proceeded to point out that while we may be in less jeopardy, millions of people of color and/or poverty are potentially in danger.  Rather than just accept the bitter fate we have drawn, she and her boyfriend are printing and wearing shirts that say, "I am safe."  That means I am approachable and sympathetic.  Sometimes people need to talk to a kind and understanding person to try to sort things out.  Other people may need accompaniment to feel safe walking through some areas or neighborhoods.  We have to let people know they are not alone.

I am so proud of them and anyone else who takes on the challenge.  We cannot wait for a progressive to win the presidency in 2020 but must act now.  It is said, "Think globally, act locally."  Now is the time for bold action and for helping those more vulnerable than ourselves.

Call it what you will.  We need and must deliver a modern underground railroad.  If we think we are safe and do nothing to help, we will be the next vulnerable minority:  progressives.

Feel the Bern, help those who need it, and support Our Revolution.  It means nothing to get knocked down.  The challenge is to get back up.

 .

I am Scared to Death: Mea Culpa

Anyone who had read my blog (all three of you) would know my opinion of Hillary Clinton.  It is not favorable.

This lying lawless lawyer plays the grey areas and barely escapes being caught and held accountable.  But she does evade responsibility and her dishonesty and is not trustworthy. That short coming is well known though accepted by many.  I believe Hillary, Wasserman-Shultz and the DNC swindled the most popular and transformitive candidate, Bernie Sanders.  Bernie is a gentleman and kept his word to endorse the Democratic nominee if it was not him.  I have respected and listened to Bernie for thirty years.  Can I ignore him and his insistent warning that we must defeat Trump?  Hillary’s campaign consists of “I’m not Trump.”  Here is one rare area where I agree with her.

Trump is a walking turd under a red cap that ought to say,   “Make America Hate Again.”  He looks like Mussolini and acts like Hitler.  Both Trump and Hitler use hatred, racism, scapegoat politics, fear and unrealistic promises.  Hitler rose during the Great Depression and promised a better economy and standard of living:  A chicken in every pot, so to speak.  Trump exists under the shadow of the post Great Recession.  He  makes unrealistic promises and pledges to make people’s lives better and more affluent.  Hitler blamed the Weimar Republic while Trump blames Obama’s administration for causing economic misery, poor living conditions and general suffering; forget about the billionaires: he is one of them, the and source of poverty, false hope to the neglected lower classes and shrinking middle class.  Both Hitler and Trump are unstable maniacs capable of destroying the countries they rule. What kind of life do we want to leave our children?

Once Bernie was defeated I had no candidate I could in good conscience support.  That left me with the option of not voting or supporting Jill Stein and the Green Party.  I have ten Jill Stein pins, nine when I wear one.

I have a tee shirt that depicts a distorted picture of Hillary and the word “crap.”  I also have a similar one of Trump over the word “nope.”  Furthermore I wear one that says “Vote for the Green Party.”  We can conclude that I like tee shirts.

Back to Trump.  He is no longer the buffoon baboon good for some laughs who could never be elected.  That is a fallacy.  He is a serious would be dictator with a chance to be elected President.  Trump is unstable with bad intentions.  Given the power he could devastate the United States and perhaps the world.  He likes our enemies (Putin) and exercises contempt for our allies.  In short, he is a dangerous evil man.  What won’t he do?

As much as I dislike Hillary I have decided reluctantly to vote for her.  I detest Hillary but I fear Trump.  The choice is between rotten and crazy rotten.  I think the Donald  must be stopped at any cost.  Sometimes we must swallow the bitter pill, this time to save the country from the megalomaniac Trump.  I cannot stomach an evil game show host.

I battled my conscience as to whether to support the Greens or the distasteful Clinton.  I spent a great deal of time and soul searching trying to resolve this dilemma.

I came to the sad conclusion that I must vote for Hillary to stop Trump, a great menace who must be blocked at any cost to save the country from a fate worse than Hillary.  It makes me sad but my vote is too important to allow a Trump victory to be realized. 

The other major party candidate is the only chance of saving us from a latter day Hitler.  Unfortunately she will increase the poverty index due to her friendship with the billionaires but at least there will still be a United States which may someday enable a future where “Our Revolution” might rise with the power to be transformitive.

I have to draw this unpleasant conclusion to keep the unstable baboon out of the Oval Office.  After all, who would clean up the mess? 

I reluctantly take this position because I am scared to death.  Who wouldn’t be?

The Ballad of Bernie

     

I walked into the voting place

To cast my ballot; where

I saw the arsenic and old lace

But Bernie wasn’t there.

An honest man was swindled by

A ceiling made of glass

The Democrats were riding high

A woman Prez at last.

I thought I'd vote for Dr. Stein

The Greens were my best bet

Although my conscience felt just fine

My heart was heavy yet.

Bernie Sanders ran a race

From him we all did learn

To live with honor, truth and grace

And always Feel the Bern...

What’s the Beef with Bernie: The Method to His Madness

           

Lately I have been reading about betrayal, defeat, and surrender of Bernie Sanders.   This has been emanating from angry disappointed people who a short month ago were Feelin’ the Bern in a large way.   Who is the culprit?  Hint:  They rigged the primaries and stole the nomination from Bernie.

Now some people are the trying to condemn the inspiration of the Political Revolution as though all was over for progressives.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

For the record, I will not be voting for either nominated nasty nutcase.  My vote will be cast for whichever progressive is on the most state ballots.  Right now that looks like the Greens and Jill Stein and that is fine with me.

Those who think we have heard the last of Bernie Sanders are not Vermonters, the people who know him best.  Bernie never gives up.  He has defied attempts to underestimate him time and time again.  Bernie will return to the Senate, promoting progressive legislation and doing his best to hold Hillary to her tenuous promises.

Why then, did Bernie endorse the queen of corruption?  Why is he urging his supporters to vote for Hillary?  His stated reason is to block the horror of an orangutan in the oval office.   After all, who would clean up the mess?  That is a valid argument but I think there is more in play here.

Bernie is not really a Democrat.  He is the longest serving Independent legislator in American history.  However, he was always in the Presidential race to win.  Though we hate to admit it, third parties historically have a hard fight and are at somewhat of a disadvantage.  So, he ran as a Democratic Socialist.  As the candidate of a major party the presidency was realistically within his grasp. 

Bernie spoke to rank and file Democrats.  Perhaps this honest and straight forward man did not count on the extreme swindle of the DNC in their compulsion to anoint Hillary.

I say, glass ceiling be damned.  I am disgusted but not surprised by the dastardly DNC.

Did Obama boast about his African American heritage?  No, he has too much class to play the black card.  He accepted the nomination as a candidate, not a black candidate.  I respect him for that.  He must have followed the example of Jackie Robinson who broke the color barrier in baseball but excercised humility and never traded on his breakthrough.  He just played great ball and revealed himself in that way.

Bernie knew when he cast his lot with the devilish Democrats that should he lose the nomination he would be required to endorse and support the nominee no matter how distasteful it was to him personally.  He knew this going in and he deemed the risk worth it to legitimately engage in the presidential race.  As a man of honor, he lived up to his promise.  Also, he got some progressive concessions.  Who but Bernie will hold Clinton’s feet to the fire on these claims and promises.

Once the elections are over, he will Bern brighter than ever inspiring and leading the Political Revolution.  After all the aspersions and accolades he and ourselves experienced, who would believe Bernie would abandon the movement?  If you think so for a minute you have another thing coming.  As I said before and his opponents have learned:  underestimate Bernie Sanders at your own peril.

So, I implore Political Revolutionaries not to abandon Bernie as he would never do to us.  The Bern may be subdued for the moment.  It is temporary.  We should respect the man and the movement now more than ever.

Scum and Scummer

                                           

Do not deny it.  The majority of Americans even marginally interested in politics were rooting against a Trump and Clinton general election.  Some may be resigned to politics as usual, but this is far worse.  These two are likely the least deserving or capable of serving as President and Commander in Chief.

We could go into their many shortcomings and long winds as has been done to death.  Here is a different slant:  I am offended that such egotistical elitist punks feel entitled to the most powerful office in the world by self promotion and proclamation.  Who died and left them boss? 

So why, to the disgust of many did these two dangerous corporate cons get the go and who is responsible.  The causation lies with two archaic parties who need to become extinct as Tyrannosaurus Rex (no offence to this noble creature.)  While we are at it, we need to get rid of legislative whores who represent corporations for bribes rather than the people who elected them.  Is jail appropriate for bribe taking?

The Democrats need to reveal without deception their conservative cadence.

A third progressive party needs to be consolidated.  That is where Bernie’s Political Revolution, the Greens, and any truly liberal Democrats and Independents come in.  We will all feel the Bern again and sooner than we think.  Vermonters have learned never count Bernie Sanders out.  His message is in his genes.  He could not stop if he wanted to which he does not now or ever despite his apparent endorsement.  He wants to beat Trump, who can blame him for those sentiments?

The Republicans need to go away.  Their nomination of Trump and rush to his sleazy side is their swan song.  These operatives and religious nuts are paranoid to the point of psychosis, candidates for strait jackets.  Beginning with Reagan, these control freaks devolved into the Tea Party who hate everybody and any idea that emanates elsewhere.  

They crossed the line of dirty politics into plain old insanity.  There is nothing new in the political world.

It’s the Parties.  They do not care a hoot about the quality of their candidates.  The Democrats cheated and chaffed Bernie in order to keep a lame promise to Hillary made in 2008; she is less relevant now than then when an obscure Senator put her in her place.  Between her and Bernie, she is the lesser candidate.  The party’s choice over the popular and qualified Sanders could lead to a Trump White House.  Imagine that.  We may live to be sliced to bits by the falling glass ceiling.

The Republicans disdained and dismissed Trump while one by one being humiliated and dropping out.  When the grim truth was no longer avoidable, they flocked to their nemesis like moths to a light.  These guys will jump on any band wagon they think will carry them to victory.  Problem is the driver is a megalomaniac among other horrible traits too numerous and too well known to dwell on here.

Our conscience dictates that we vote for neither anointed one and cast one for Jill Stein or whichever progressive gets on the most state ballots.  Right now, the Greens are getting closer than anyone else.  Perhaps it is time to start the Political Revolution right now.  Why wait?  Corporate capitalist America has crushed the American people long enough.  The time for major structural change is now.  One certainty is that the conservative Democrats and nutcase Republicans will fight the bad fight to prevent that from happening.

We need to ignite the embers in order to delight in our progress.  The Bern still feels us.  Those who deny Bernie do so at their own peril.  I Feel the Bern.  Do you?