Once a contest between a moderate-but-moving-left candidate and a confirmed socialist, the Democratic presidential race has degraded into one between a crooked traitor and a grouchy, old, tax-evading whiner — or so it seems on social media. Lost in the infighting are the costs to our beloved social democratic republic from the short-sightedness that is making so many forget what is really at stake.
Hillary Clinton has all but sown up the nomination. Bernie Sanders refuses to concede. One can't fault him for that, but his tactics smell of desperation and have degraded into a whimpering poor-loser mode. Aiding him in his party divisiveness are so-called progressives who do nothing more than help conservatives by pushing RW memes portraying Clinton as a Wall Street loving, traitorous, warmongering, soon-to-be felon. (The Berniebots have ignored their candidate's past proclamations about never slinging mud in a negative campaign.) Rampant mudslinging is a standard operating procedure of the Right Wing. Now leftists are so bent on demanding the Democratic Party fully invest in progressive socialism that the exaggerations and innuendos concerning Clinton, once reviled as slander, are now fully embraced by those who should know better. The dangers of myopic invective could ring in a new Dark Age that could prevail for most of this century.
No, that's not an exaggeration. Think of 7 words: The Supreme Court of the United States. While everyone with even a hint of political awareness acknowledges that the Court is prepped for ideological upheaval over the next 4-8 years, it has gotten drowned out by vituperative infighting by those who have the most to lose if a Republican takes the oath next January. Also apparently forgotten is that the Republican who would take that oath (hypocritically, in my view) is someone who is even reviled by his own party as a dangerous con man without the necessary qualifications. (But since he's said he'd get his list of Court nominees from the Heritage Foundation, , hey, OK.) The Republicans thank the @NeverHillary crowd on the left-of-center who is actively supporting a regressive turn on our highest court.
No, Hillary is not the full-blown progressive many want. And she has made some questionable decisions. But no-one who has spent as many years in public office as she has not made mistakes — not even Bernie Sanders. By furthering the Republican witch hunt memes, by declaring "Bernie or Bust," by ignoring the consequences of not voting for the Democratic nominee, the rabid anti-Clintons are reneging on their own ideals of social justice and minority rights. In November, whether they stay home or choose a 3rd party candidate, the result will be the same — the White House will be occupied by a fascist xenophobic real estate snake oil salesman who cares not one whit about unions, reproductive rights, equality, fair wages (even living wages), LGBT rights, ethnic minorities, Black Lives Matter, immigration reform, environment, climate change, income inequality, discrimination, ... all the things for which we have fought so hard for so long.
The phrase "lesser of two evils" has dogged elections for quite some time. For all but those very right of center, it was absent from the presidential races in 2008 and 2012 (thanks, Mr Obama). It has come back with a vengeance. Some are saying there is no "lesser evil" with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They couldn't be more wrong. For all of Hilary's presumed wrongs, they are merely hiccups compared to what we'd face under a Trump presidency. (Or Libertarian, for that matter. Their economics are worse than St Ronnie's.) Clinton may not be my first choice, but if she's the nominee, she's the only rational one
The Republican nominee has doomed his party with divisiveness. They will end up much better off than the Democratic Party if the once-rational folk don't stop degrading the front runner by championing right wing hate. Hillary isn't the "lesser of two evils." She's likely the only thing standing between our democratic republic and falling into a bleak, regressive decline.
I choose the possibility of advancement.
For our sake, for your children's children's future, #VoteBlueNoMatterWho