Monday, July 25, 2016

Bickering on the Railroad Tracks While the Freight Train Comes

I've not been so worried and depressed about the future of our country as I am now for a long time, maybe ever. I feel like a railroad train is about to hit us and the different factions of the Democratic party are bickering about who gets to sit in a better place on the tracks. The establishment and the insurgent wing of the party are equally to blame right now.

Hillary's campaign and the Democratic establishment are currently trying to win the election of 1992. They have appointed another centrist corporate democrat in hopes of luring in a few more undecided white male moderates while the left wing of their party is walking out the back door. They put up a little progressive window dressing on their platform while leaving everything the corporate centrists really want. They try to cover up Debbie Schultz's incompetent and unfair management of the DNC by having her resign from a position she was about to have to give up anyway only to bring her on board Hillary's campaign. Even if the Russians are responsible for the Guccifer2 leaks, they wouldn't have mattered if Schultz had done her job right. They are happy to warn us about the danger of a Trump presidency, but won't do anything about the fact that their platform does nothing to improve the lives of the disenfranchised poor whites that can push him into victory.

As for the Berners, one of whom I was once proud to call myself, the dead enders have unnecessarily personalized their dispute with Hillary and made the entire thing about themselves rather than the good of the country. Their slogan is supposed to be #NotMeUs; they should change it to #UsNotYou. They have become so obsessed in their hatred of Hillary that they blow every issue completely out of proportion as much as any Republican. Rather than simply demanding accountability for the fact that DNC showed some unfair favoritism for Hillary they say that the primaries were entirely rigged and millions of votes should be discounted. Rather than say that Hillary made a bad decision hosting her own email they declare themselves sudden experts on national security and happily join in calls to lock her in prison. They say the superdelegates are undemocratic and should be abolished and in the same breath ask the superdelegates to overrule a three million vote majority that they disagree with, mostly minority and poorer Democrats. They rail against elitists and in the same breath say that they know what's better than the rabble that gave Hillary a majority.

I hope that both sides will wake up to the danger that's coming and put protecting the country ahead of their squabbling. I hope they can do it in time. Right now I am not so sure.

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