The Unbearable Weight of Stubbornness

So Bernie has endorsed Hillary, and now Democrats can happily shake hands, mend fences, and turn our attention completely to defeating the Great Orange Dumpster Fire that is Donald Drumpf.

Wouldn't it be pretty to think so?

Immediately after Bernie Sanders announced his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the internet was predictably aflame with diehard Sandernistas, proclaiming Bernie a sellout--apparently even Bernie has it in for Bernie!  Apparently, passionate leftists are just as allergic to compromise as Tea Partiers, and would rather just watch the world burn than embrace a candidate who could, if her track record is any indication, actually get something done.  Sure, she won't address all of Bernie's priorities, but she could actually get Sanders' followers a decent portion of the things they claim to want.  Which is more than they'll get with a Drumpf presidency.  (It's probably more than they would have gotten from a Bernie presidency, too, considering that Hillary has demonstrated a greater ability to work with her political antagonists than Bernie ever has--but don't expect the Bernie Bros to admit to that any time soon.)

Many of Bernie's most vocal supporters have loudly proclaimed that they will never vote for Hillary.  When you point out that not voting for Hillary is at least passively supporting Drumpf, they wipe their hands of any responsibility, excusing their (in)action by saying it won't be their fault if Trump wins--it will be the fault of everybody who hurt their feelings by voting for Hillary over Bernie.

As a sports fan, I kind of understand: It's like people who hate Lebron James being upset about Cleveland winning the championship. "See, Oklahoma City was a better team than Golden State," they say.  "If the Thunder had gone up against Cleveland, no WAY the Cavaliers would have won."  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But the point is, Golden State went head to head against Oklahoma City, and Golden State won.  And where the sports analogy breaks down is this: Bernie Sanders supporters can actually do something to ensure that Donald Trump doesn't win: They could swallow their pride and vote for Hillary--the man their own hero has asked them to vote for!

It has been pointed out that many of the It'll-serve-'em-right-if-Trump-wins crowd are actually relatively affluent white people.  That these people, while not welcoming a Drumpf presidency, will likely not suffer overly much under such a regime--at least not directly.  They don't rely on the social services that will likely be gutted under a Republican regime, and their rights will not be directly threatened by an extreme rightward tilt of the Supreme Court.  And worst case, they have the means to follow through on their probably idle threats to pack up and move to Canada.

While I agree with this analysis, it loses some of its persuasive force when one considers that a huge proportion (perhaps a majority) of Trump's most passionate supporters actually are the people--low-income, poorly educated--whose lives will be decimated by a Drumpf presidency.  You look at the people attending Trump rallies, cheering his racist bullshit, and you can sympathize with the attitude of those who say, "You idiots want Trump so much.  Fine! You can have him, and you deserve whatever you get."

But then you have to remember that the vast majority of the country--the people who most need America to be the country that the likes of Trump will destroy--is not at these rallies, and that in many ways their very lives depend upon this country making the right choice.  Call it "the lesser of two evils" if it makes you feel better, but remember that the "worser" of two evils is really, really worse.

Time to Accept Reality

I understand why people like Bernie Sanders.  I understand why people voted for Bernie Sanders.  And I understand why these people are feeling depressed right now, as it appears that Hillary Clinton has emerged victorious from the Democratic nominating process.  Many of these people are now suggesting that there is no way they will vote for Hillary in November.  Personally, I think this attitude is counterproductive to say the least, unless these people truly see no major threat from the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.  But, still, I acknowledge that these people certainly have the right to vote for whomever they prefer, or for no one at all.  All of this I can accept.

What I can no longer stand is the caterwauling from this group that the system is "rigged" and that Hillary Clinton somehow "stole" the election.  I read posts like this on Facebook and, frankly, just want to scream. Enough already!

I note that these people are making two separate arguments, one of which is absolutely true: The system IS rigged.  The current primary system, particularly it seems on the Democratic side, is set up in such a way that it favors the candidate preferred by the party elite and, correspondingly, throws up obstacles in the path of any less-favored candidate.  This does not mean that an insurgent candidate CAN'T get the nomination--a little-known politician by the name of Barack something-or-other managed to beat out the establishment favorite in 2008. You might have heard of the person he beat, too: Her name was Hillary Clinton.  Still, however, the party favorites will always have an edge in any nominating contest.  It's debatable, though, whether this is truly a bad thing: After all, some would say that the people in charge of the Democratic Party have every right to select the person they want to represent them in a general election.  And one could, therefore, understand why these people might be reluctant to support Bernie Sanders who, as I was reminded recently, was not even a Democrat until five minutes before he decided to run for the nomination.

(At this point, I feel I must insert the obligatory statement of basic support for what Bernie is trying to accomplish.  Yes, he's a good guy.  Yes, he has some great policy positions.  Yes, it would be great to have someone in the White House with Berne's obvious concern for the downtrodden.  I'm not bashing Bernie, OK?  But he lost.  Onward.)

I'm beginning to feel that maybe we should do away with primaries altogether: Let the parties choose their standard-bearers however they want.  True, that would mean no Bernie Sanders (at least, no Bernie Sanders running as a Democrat), but it would also mean we wouldn't right now face the real possibility of a Trump presidency.  That's a tradeoff I'd accept.

The second argument, though, that Hillary stole the election, is flat-out wrong--unless you are defining "theft" as getting more votes than your opponent.  Hillary won millions more votes than Bernie (and I suspect her winning margin among registered Democrats was even larger than her overall margin).  She won more states than Bernie--particularly among states that hold primaries, which are inherently more small-d democratic than caucuses.  She won more convention delegates--both of the "super" and "mere mortal" category.  Die-hard Bernie fans would have you believe that none of this is true--that it is merely evidence of massive fraud and vote-suppression of North Korean magnitude. 

And this is where I get pissed off.  Because the implication of these charges is not only that the system is rigged, but also that it is fundamentally inconceivable that people could possibly prefer Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders.  That, in fact, there is something fundamentally "wrong" with people who prefer Clinton.  And maybe I'm wrong to take this personally, but I do.

There is nothing "wrong" with supporting Hillary.  Look, folks, if you think Bernie is qualified to be president, than you simply have to acknowledge that Hillary is too.  Again, I'm not saying preferable--I mean, I think she is, others will disagree, and that's why we have discussions and elections.  But a former first lady (serving as both formal and informal policy advisor), twice-elected senator, and secretary of state is as qualified to be president as anyone you're likely ever to see.  And if you think it absolutely impossible that a large group of your fellow Americans could look at that resume and see a qualified candidate, then you have a curious view of your fellow Americans.

So to Bernie fans, I say: By all means, keep supporting Bernie.  I would suggest the best way to do that, though. is to support the candidate most likely to help him achieve his policy goals (which ain't Trump, by the way).  That decision, ultimately, is up to you.  But you really need to accept the fact that more people simply preferred the other guy (or, in this case, gal).  And unless you want to find yourself and your movement permanently marginalized, you better start building--rather than burning--bridges.

In Which Trump Could Really Use the Services of Kander and Ebb

By now, you've probably seen this horrifying video of the Donald Trump "youth rally."  Whoops.  Sorry, wrong clip.  I meant this horrifying video, which lacks even the lovely countertenor to redeem it. It's almost admirable: Every time you think the Trump campaign has reached a point below which it would be impossible to go, he reveals yet another sub-basement.

I'm seriously (wishfully?) starting to believe the whole thing might be meant as satire.  I mean, Donald Trump is a vile, hateful, misogynistic, racist, vulgar. . . .

Sorry, where was I?  Right.  Donald Trump is a jackass.  But he's not actually stupid.  He must know that everything he's doing is straight out of the Hitler playbook: His encouragement of violence from his followers, his assertions that anyone who dares to disagree with him "should be roughed up," his demonization of Jews--sorry, Muslims.  Mexicans?  Blacks?  Who are we hating this week?

So is it possible we're all being punked?  Did Trump maybe watch "Bob Roberts" and think, "Great movie!  Classy movie!  Not enough people saw it!  I'm gonna make a big, beautiful political campaign just like this.  It'll be great. You won't believe how great it'll be."  And when he accepts the nomination at the Republican convention, he'll introduce Tim Robbins as his running mate, and we'll all have a good laugh about the whole thing.

Maybe?

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Buried in an article about Bernie Sanders' attempts to reach out to Black voters was this tidbit: "Mr. Sanders also has a growing stable of hip-hop artists singing his praises, including Antwan Andre Patton, better known as Big Boi and formerly of the duo Outkast."  This is ridiculous!  "Formerly" of the duo Outkast?!? Did they break up?!?

A Sincere Question

I have a sincere question for my Republican friends--I'm sure I must have one or two: When you guys think about the 2016 presidential election, what do you think of the Democratic "fringe" candidates?  Or, to put it more simply: Do you guys look at Bernie Sanders the way we look at Donald Trump?

In recent polls, Trump is receiving about 12% of the vote for the Republican presidential nomination, while Bernie Sanders is receiving about 15% of the vote for the Democratic nomination.  In other words, they seem to be roughly equal in their relative "fringeness."  They are both from the Northeast, and they both. . . um. . . well, I guess they both elicit numerous jokes about their hair.  In other words, as of this moment, Bernie Sanders is the Democratic Donald Trump.

But here's the thing: Bernie Sanders is a twice-elected United States Senator, whose "insane" ideas include things like narrowing the wealth gap among Americans and getting big money out of politics.  Donald Trump is a questionably successful businessman and television personality whose platform includes things like building a massive wall along the southern US border and calling Mexicans "rapists."  It says something about the debased state of American politics that both candidates are considered to have about the same chance of being elected president, but let that go for now.

Obviously, as a Democrat, I think Donald Trump is a joke and an embarrassment to our country--and, in fairness, I am sure that the vast majority of Republicans feel much the same way.  But I am truly, truly curious--and I come back to my earlier question: Do Republicans look at Bernie Sanders the same way?  And if so, our politics may be even more debased than I thought.