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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Just Me. Thanks.

I started writing in January 2015 on a completely personal journey. It was solely reflective about my own life and I didn't write anything political. I wrote a few pieces that got a lot of attention from other writers who encouraged me to start posting my work on Twitter. It took me less than an hour to understand why people hate Twitter. I have been politically aware all of my adult life. I had known what the leaders of the Tea Party sect of the Regressive party had been saying, but I had never really had to experience their followers. Just. Jesus. Christ. They were fascinating to me and I researched and wrote about them for several months.

My interest in the teabaggers began to wane last summer, however. I was excited about our own movement on the left. I looked forward to hearing about the candidates who wanted to follow My President and their ideas. I was anxious for Secretary Clinton to announce and was also very excited about Bernie Sanders. When he entered the race I was sincerley energized because someone so far left was entering the arena. I encouraged my readers to learn more about him and spread the word.

I believed in everything Sanders talked about. Passionately. I soon realized that Bernie Sanders did not believe in everything I believe in, however. He gave the same speech every time he spoke. He hit the same notes every time. And then when he was asked questions about issues beyond his narrow purview, his answers went back to the same thing: billionaires. Don't get me wrong, money, power and influence are an obvious obstacle in our present democracy. But I understand human elements to the issues my progressive heart is passionate about. It does not seem that Sanders has any connection with the human element whatsoever, beyond its direct tie to his agenda.

Any response to the Black Lives Matter movement should not mention Wall Street. The answer to gun violence is not Wall Street. The answer to the Equal Rights Amendment is not Wall Street. The answer to our environmental crisis is not Wall Street. The answer to women's autonomy in health care is not Wall Street. The answer to immigration reform is not Wall Street. The answer to LGBTQ rights and marriage equality is not Wall Street. The answer to education is not Wall Street. The answer to veterans care is not Wall Street. The answer to voting rights is not Wall Street. The answer to national security is not Wall Street. The answer to energy independence is not Wall Street.

Somehow Sanders manages to bring every conversation back to the evils of money. Human beings don't even seem to get a secondary nod in his equation. Having studied the Tea Party movement, I noticed the commonalities of the messages: Good v. Evil, Right v. Wrong, Love v. Hate. Each very skewed conversation has the same foe and, more importantly, the same champion. I feel ugly typing the next sentence, so I won't. But I feel confident the bulk of my readers know where and when this technique was mastered. I will leave it right there.

Because of his inability to connect to progressive issues on a personal level, I was unable to connect to him on a personal level. Because I have known Secretary Clinton (not personally, of course) for decades now and cheered her myriad goals and accomplishments for progressive ideals, I connect with her on a personal level. It is sincerely personal to her. As it is to me.

In the beginning of the campaign there were pro-Hillary and pro-Sanders supporters who followed my writing and cheered me on because, for the most part, my pieces celebrated Progressivism. In November, however, I wrote a piece (read here) compelling the left to remain a united front against the right. I didn't say which group were being bullies but I insisted that we all be more mindful about where we direct our rage. I got a lot of shit for it. I ended up researching it more in December and found that one of the groups so many of my brothers and sisters from the left were joining was actually a right wing group. Yep. You read that right. They were taking their talking points and their (mis)information from people who would really rather have the left fighting among themselves than direct America toward an awakening about what was going on in the Regressive Party. Of course, I took quite a lot of shit for that piece, too (read here).

Here we are these many months later and it really seems to have been getting worse every week. Last week, however, was my final straw. I really wanted to keep my mouth shut (a Herculean feat, to be sure) and try to offer rational, conciliatory dialogue when we made it down to one candidate. I wanted to welcome those who had lost their chosen candidate and remind them of the reasons to celebrate the candidate we would need to support for the general. Sanders' campaign, however, has made that an impossibility for me.

The tragedy of the Sanders campaign is that he is taking the youth of the left and turning them against the only hope they will have for a true revolution. He is telling them that both sides are corrupt. Only he can take them to the promised land. Its kind of funny, really. Right? Here in our democracy, his "Not Me. Us" is embraced by those who seem to have no idea about the 'us' in that equation. The 'us' need to vote for many like-minded representatives so "Not Me" can be united with them working toward progressive goals. That "Not Me" is presently dismissing attempts to raise money for the other people from the left who might follow him to DC to pass laws and confirm judges to direct the nation to the left. Quite plainly, his message is "Just Me. Thanks." Even more plainly, this is not a dictatorship. And this is where his idealized version of Democratic Socialism gets really, really uncomfortable...

Socialism has a bad name. The ideology is lovely, to be sure. Its practice never has been, though. Ever. Socialism is offered to high-minded people with big hearts who want equality to prevail. Once the overwhelming power and money are given to the few who are meant to lead with it, however, the principled folk with the high ideals are fucked. Period.

A couple of weeks ago Susan Sarandon was defining Sanders' post-Trump election 'revolution' and Chris Hayes countered with, "You're saying the Leninist model of..." and she interrupted with a dreamy, "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah...". I'm convinced, after having heard her speak on political issues many times, that her response was to her having heard him ask about a "Lennonist model" where all hippies unite and give peace a chance. No thoughtful human being living in a DEMOCRACY would have understood that question to have been referencing Lenin, whose revolution meant to overthrow the State and create a historical clusterfuck, and then fantasize about that pending reality. The fact that Chris Hayes allowed her to go there and then didn't ask her to define the supposed rise after the fall of our State only advances my own belief that he and most at MSNBC have a very short leash when it comes to delivering information to their audience that could actually be useful.


Sanders is well aware of what he is doing. Much in the same way that Trump is presently hijacking the Regressive party (the one already hijacked by the Tea Party), Sanders plopped down onto the D so he could have a seat at the table without having to take the time to build a party of his own. He's had decades to create this movement and promote like-minded candidates across the country who wanted to join and move the country to the idealized (and as yet undefined) Democratic Socialism he seems so attached to. He doesn't care that he is destroying the only chance America has at this pivotal moment where the legacy of President Obama must be continued. He doesn't take into account that the Supreme Court is literally on the line. He doesn't seem remotely bothered by the fact that global diplomacy is a necessity and could end up in the hands of a reality TV star. Nope. His "Just Me. Thanks." movement is more important to him than anything else.

I have been relieved over the last few weeks by the countless Sanders supporters who've confided that they had become disgusted by the Sanders campaign and were moving their support to Secretary Clinton. The fact that most of those revelations came with a sincere plea that I not tell anyone for fear of their being ostracized online sums up his entire movement. I cannot have a rational discussion with his followers about issues. I cannot have a rational discussion about the misogynist tone of the Sanders campaign without having feminism mansplained to me. I cannot counter the lies that his campaign projects with actual facts because, like the Tea Party I grew so tired of battling, they don't want facts. His most fervent supporters are now comfortably settled into a movement with no message beyond short quips and condmenations of the 'others.' He and his surrogates have created and perpetuated narrative meant to disqualify our entire political structure and any who mean to preserve it and advance it to the left. The next generation of the Democratic Party is being poisoned by a petulant man-child in a suit whose only objective is to keep receiving adulation by those he is poisoning and take their money. Twenty seven dollars at a time.

Senator Sanders, my country deserves better. If you hate America so much, move to one of the countries you laud for their socialism. Maybe they'll make you king.



Kiss Kiss ... Mean Progressive



55 comments:

  1. Good article, Angie! You just said everything I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to say for several months now. Keep up the good work, sister. I am proud to know you as friend.

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    1. Thank you, David. It has been cathartic. Not kidding. Phew...

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    2. I just about fell it! Excellent job well written and intellectually sound. You trapped the audience with enough honey to attract flies then twisted your own assumptions for a logical hypothesis. You're no only good but damned good.

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  2. There is a very good reason you were blocked from my 55 groups. You pervert the truth and you are a writer? Hope you have a day job!

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    1. Drive-by insult ANONYMOUSLY?? My, how very brave of you.

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    2. lol bet she's grateful too!!

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    3. Yeah. Shawn & Susan. He is actually one of the people pretending to be a leftie who runs groups telling everyone not to vote for HRC if she gets the nod. They've been doing this for months. They are pushing right wing agenda and hiding it in leftie lingo. Those with little capacity to think for themsleves don't see through it. I kind of pissed them off last fall.

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  3. EXACTLY the way I feel...especially your observation that no matter the question, the answer is Wall Street. I think we would be in very dire straight should Sanders ever be at the helm.

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    1. Thank you, Shawn. Yeah. It got uncomfortable to hear everything narrowed to a single issue. We on the left are the more intellectual group. We deserve to have more thoughtful narrative. His campaign is literally dumbing down politics. We already have the Tea Party for that. We on the left really appreciate athoughtful and meaningful platform with detailed plans. I, too, think we would be screwed if we were left with him. It would take me hours to write out all my fears, but OMG it could be awful.

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  4. Love it! I liked Bernie in the beginning, and even considered voting for him. His attitude and the attitude of his zombie followers have disgusted me.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, I can't tell you how many people on various formats are sending me the same message. I didnt' get to sleep the night I posted this because I was replying to them all. It is so nice to know that we are all (most of us) having the awakening needed to unite OUR party and move forward. :)

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  5. Exceptionally well written and well thought out article. I agree wholeheartedly, particularly regarding Mr. Sanders' one-note answer to all of the country's problems. His ego is being fed by the people who idolize him, but scratch the surface and I find racism and mysogyny on the part of his supporters.

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    1. Thank you. I have the same concerns about what we would find if we scratched beneath the surface... I saw a release a few days ago that every single person he has hired in his career has been a white man. I don't know how that could even happen. You have to really work hard to not find a woman or a single POC that's qualified to work for you.

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  6. Don't be surprised when you are labeled a non Progressive. It seems that only Sanders and his Berniac minions are the "true" Progressives

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    1. Ha! I have my Progressivism denied countless times ever day. It is so silly. I tell them to read my blog. I am the definition of progressive. Of course, they also toss around the term neo-liberal. Sure. Ive been at this for 25 years. Im not new. Thanks. :)

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    2. Actually they are not progressives - not in the literal sense of the term. Progressives achieve a liberal agenda by using the tools of existing government to move things along - albeit slowly. Obama is a Progressive and so is Hillary. And they are not Milton Friedman neo-liberals! (seems like a new charge they just discovered)

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    3. I am comfortable with Clinton today as I was a year ago. Her strength is in support from women and minorities, the real forces in the coming politics. Bernie's movement remains a white, middle class majority.

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    4. Let's be honest though. A genuine "progressive" certainly would not support a candidate who voted for an illegal invasion that murdered a quarter million people, called it a "mistake" and then turned around and invaded Libya, killing thousands more, for absolutely no reason. A progressive would not support the candidate who wants to go for a lower minimum wage, who rejects the idea of universal healthcare, who doesn't want to re-regulate the banks, who supports horrible trade deals that ship decent jobs away to third world countries that torture their citizens and destroy entire ecosystems to build factories, or that defends Benjamin Netanyahu - universally viewed as one of the worst human rights violators on the planet. It's fine if you support H. But what's ridiculous is pretending that she's a progressive when the vast majority of policies she has supported and does support are not much different from those pushed by George W Bush. It's sort of the whole "lipstick on a pig" thing, isn't it?

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    5. Let's be honest though. Taking Clinton's vote on giving the president authority to use war as a threat to bring Iraq to the bargaining table after giving an extensive explanation of her reasons for so voting, and after considering that she was the 11th most progressive senator during her time there, and laying aside all the other GOP lies that have been around for 30 years, and taking into account her plan for 're-regulation' which economists agree is a better plan, and taking into account that she supports the most progressive trade deal ever with guaranteed supports for workers rights and the environment, I am happy to say that she is a progressive; far more progressive than Sanders, since she actually has plans to accomplish her progressive agenda. But even if Sanders' should win the nomination, and despite the fact that I despise his position on gun control, and his choosing to dump Vermont's toxic waste on a poor, Hispanic community in another state (an act of environmental racism if ever there was one) and the fact that after talking about Wall Street ad infinitum he cannot tell whether any laws were actually broken or how he would 'break up' the big banks, and has no actual plans to accomplish anything and is not supporting the Democratic candidates he would need to accomplish anything, I would STILL vote for him because, as ineffective as he is, he is still MILES better than any Republican and I will not turn this country over to Trump, Cruz or any of them by not voting. Because, as a progressive, I am not a perfectionist and I will choose the best choice offered me instead of putting our economy and the lives of many citizens at stake because I don't like him.

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    6. I thank you too! Good read!

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  7. Brilliantly articulated and wonderfully penned ...Thank you for speaking out!

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    1. Thank you so much! It did really feel like speaking out. So many people were feeling the same way. I think we are finally ready to stop being pushed around and really stand up for what the left is supposed to be about! :)

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  8. thank you-this parallels the metamorphosis a lot of us are having..with ya sista..keep writing

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    1. Thank you! I think so, too. A lot of people can see what is going on. I just hope he decides to drop out before he makes it any worse on the left. It is toxic. And the idea of Trump or Cruz replacing my POTUS is unacceptable. Unbearable!

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  9. Spot-on. Thanks for the courage and ability to convey it so clearly.

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  10. If you take the time to look at his voting record, and the many amendments to mitigate some awful legislation that was going to be passed, you will see that Bernie has an outstanding and progressive record on many issues. Still, in the USA, today, the two glaring disgraces that need to be addressed are the global emergency of Climate Change, and the fraud of reaganomics, which has been systematically destroying the country for over three decades. Hillary will not attack either with the massive effort they require, sad to say.

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    1. I've had a very detailed review of his record. Its pretty abysmal, really. He votes against progressive issues all of the time because the bill was not perfect. He actually voted NAY last December on funding the 9/11 First Responders, EIC, child tax credit, solar and wind energy, land and water conservation. And his answer: billionaires. His objectives are far too narrow to fit comfortably into a genuine agenda for the left. I completely agree that Reaganomics and climate change are big issues. We cannot limit ourselves to a couple of issues, though. That is not progressivism. That is destruction of all of the progress we have made. And more importantly, the progress we have yet to make. Secretary Clinton has championed the myriad goals of the left and will continue to do so. And she will certainly maintain that agenda in order to get reelected in 4 years. For me there is simply no choice. I need a true Progressive to follow President Obama.

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  11. If you take the time to look at Bernie's voting record, you will see someone who sold out to the NRA long ago, demonized women as rape-fantasizers and 'bitches,' and only supported civil union (not equal rights) for the LGBT community as recently as 2006. He's now simplifying politics to the level of a coloring book, falsifying his contribution average by asking donors to donate many times in small contributions to disguise the real size of their donations, and trying to hide his tax returns so we won't learn that he pays the low tax rate of the 1% that he rails again and refuses to reveal how many properties he owns. He repeatedly claims support from causes that do not support him, culminating most recently in his appalling attempt to grandstand on the Pope's reputation and actually interfering with the Pope's attempt to throw international attention on the Syrian refugees. He is not a revolutionary. He's a rude, argumentative entitled white man who has lost his head to the pomp and circumstance of celebrity.

    Meanwhile, if you take the time to look at Hillary's voting record, you will see that Hillary has been an outstanding. progressive, and courageous champion for children, families, women, Americans of color, and the poor for her entire career. It is the greatest political event of my very politically-active 55-year life to be given the opportunity to vote her into the White House now.

    So why do Bernie supporters feel free to predict so confidently what either candidate "will" or "will not" do? Is it because Bernie speaks in platitudes instead of plans? ("I haven't really thought about it.") Is that the only people still following him are those desperate to believe that sweeping generalizations, authoritative announcements and unilateral demands without verification or even majority support, and viscous, hyper-negative attacks are the liberal, inclusive, progressive way forward for this country?

    Or is it because they just can't be bothered to live in the real world? Robert Reich said it: "Clinton is the most qualified candidate for President of the political system we now have." Not a fantasy future, but current reality. And Ram Dass said it way back in Bernie's era:

    Be HERE. NOW.

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  12. NotAsMeanProgressiveApril 20, 2016 at 3:39 PM

    Good work. I admire your steely hide. I've been called all kinds of names for saying much less along this line, and have vowed to try to ignore the crazy and just stay on course with HRC.

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    1. NotAsMeanProgressive ;) I got the biggest giggle out of your name. Thank you. I tried for a very long time to let them have their ugliness but I can't any longer. I will just plug ahead as well and continue to educate people about the TRUTHS no one seems to want to tell about Secretary Clinton.

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  13. I totally agree, I still cannot understand this strange attraction to Sanders who says the same story about the wealthy, the banks, etc... but like you said, does nothing to support the people who could make changes... he is just a dreamer who never accomplished anything.......just loves to blame everyone else for his shortcomings.

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    1. Thank you. Yes. It is the same game the Tea Party plays on the right. Give them someone to hate and tell them that the whole wide world will be better once that single 'bad guy' is removed. It is so narrow to look at the countless issues and bring them down to one place.

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  14. Bernie Sanders is 20 years behind on his information regarding Sweden.

    http://www.newsmax.com/RichLowry/Sweden-Socialism-Bernie-Sanders/2015/10/20/id/697208/

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  15. Mean Progressive, your commentary is spot on!

    I have a home in the United States and a second home in Canada.
    My friends from Canada and Scandinavia are perplexed at why Bernie Sanders says their countries are successful examples of democratic socialism. Their countries are actually examples of social democracy.

    Bernie Sanders also says according to surveys, people in Scandinavia are the happiest people in the world. This simply isn’t true. Scandinavians believe it is rude to suggest that you are unhappy, so those surveys are not accurate.

    Bernie Sanders is strongly opposed to free trade, but Scandinavian countries excel in free trade, especially Denmark.

    In Scandinavia, free college tuition encouraged young people to stay in college for years studying art and music while living off of welfare. Naturally, there was a shortage of young people willing to work. As a result, there is a severe shortage of engineers in Scandinavia.

    From the Boston Globe:

    “By 1993, Swedes had begun to regard their experiment with socialism as “a colossal failure.”

    Denmark has come to a similar conclusion. Its lavish subsidies are being rolled back amid sharp concerns about welfare abuse and an eroding work ethic.

    In the last general election, Danes replaced a left-leaning government with one tilted to the right. Loving Denmark doesn’t mean loving big-government welfare.

    The real key to Scandinavia’s unique successes is culture.

    The good outcomes and high living standards they produced antedated the socialist nostrums of the 1970s. Scandinavia’s quality of life didn’t spring from leftist policies. It
    survived them.

    With free markets and healthy values, almost any society will thrive. Socialism only makes things worse.”

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/10/15/bernie-sanders-scandinavia-not-socialist-utopia/lUk9N7dZotJRbvn8PosoIN/story.html

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    1. Thank you. Yes. I have been absolutely stunned by the inconsistencies with his limited representations of the socialism he wants to offer us with little to no acknowledgement of the profound sacrifices he is not explaining to Americans who just hear 'free' and jump on board. It is stunning to me that they do not compare/contrast the varied political structures he is comparing ours to and that he is allowed to continue going unvetted about how, exactly, that vision would be implemented or incorporated in our present political structure. Is the 'Leninist' model Sarandon so quickly embraced the one he is talking about? Really? Does anyone understand what that means? Our market structure, economy and foundations of all of our present safety nets are wrapped up in our democracy and our market system. How in the hell he gets to continue for nearly a year now rambling on about this supposed 'revolution' without being forced to define it is terrifying to me. I am sure the educated Europeans (and Canadians) absolutely marvel at the race we are presently witnessing and shake their heads as if we are the adolescent country we actually are, having a pubescent temper tantrum. Its exhasting, really.

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  16. Taking your post at face value, I can see your perspective. However, what you propose as an argument against supporting Bernie offers no alternatives to the corrupt government and political system we currently have, with both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as New World Order poster children. It's a shame that Americans have been dumbed down to the point where they can only counter with "that won't work" while being unable to offer any NEW VISION for the country that is going down the tubes precisely because of financial elitism, and institutional racism. If you want to speak of government welfare? Let's talk about Congressional salaries and benefits. Let's talk about the Military Industrial complex and having U.S. bombs destabilizing the middle east and making the decision (in your name with your tax dollars) that collateral damage is OK with Americans. Let's talk about the U.S. foreign policy blunders (all motivated by profit, whether with public or privately held corporations) that reflect the intention of murder, mayhem, hegemony and accomplishing this by sacrificing the U.S. economy and the middle class. Let's talk about the Clinton Foundation. Let's lose the political labels (democracy, socialism, communism, Jihad, terrorism) that so conveniently shut down substantive conversations that might actually generate a NEW VISION. Trump isn't going to lead us into a NEW VISION. He'll lead us into a violent form of authoritarian control. Hillary will stay on the path she's on, violent authoritarian control outside of our borders, but less violence toward compliant (liberal) Kool-Aid consumers. Bernie uses "Wall Street" as code for economic inequality of the sort that allows the U.S. to become bankrupt while handing out corporate welfare but taking it away from the people who have been abandoned by corporations who will replace human beings as fast as possible with A.I. robotics. Is this your vision of our future? I wish you a huge dose of heart-centered intelligence.

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  17. What I feel is tragic is the dumbing down to the extent where you can reply to my post which, quite plainly for anyone remotely well versed in history and political ideologies, pointed out, though tempered, the obvious 'new vision' we are being offered. That vision of his is quite limited. He has been asked repeatedly to explain his version of idealized socialism. In the beginning I even begged him (through the tv) to answer the question. I was quite sure he had an answer that would counter the implications of the questions being asked. As he has continued his campaign and taken on the techniques of propaganda historically used to speak to those less capable of reason and critical thought, it has become all too apparent that his message, its means of delivery and, sadly I fear his objectives, are as dangerous as those of demagogues past who led their followers down profoundly ruinous paths. Your passionate and inconsistent support of him tells me you are incapable of reasoned judgement at this time. I sincerely hope that you have a revelation and that it is not too painful for you as it often is when we allow human beings to hold unmerited levels of exception and don't require more of those we place our trust in. I could probably waste a good hour of my life replying to your rhetoric above and point out where and when those talking points were handed to you. I don't assume, at this point in your life however, that you have the capacity to accept the truths I would offer you. My sincere hopes for an enlightenment. Soon.

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  18. An excellent well-thought out piece. I've supported Clinton since before she announced but Sanders was a great guy with passion who kept alive good topics and causes so they were part of the conversation. And then he wasn't. Then he continued his internal destruction of any principles not his even if they were so close it was really no difference. And then everything that didn't go his way was corrupt and rigged against him. Now and for the past several weeks he had nothing more to offer in this pres. race and is doing more harm than good; both to himself and to concepts and ideals he would like to, presumably, maintain. Hopefully he'll be able to bow out gracefully and donate all the donations to charity. Like women's shelters

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  19. Beautifully written Angie. I came across this post when it was linked from a Hillary-supporting Facebook group I belong to. I, too, am one of those former Sanders fans who became disgusted with his supporters, then his campaign, and then him... and am now solidly supporting Hillary. Thanks again for writing this!

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  20. Wow this article slams him with a ton of ad hominem attacks and just outright lies such as: "Because of [Bernie's] inability to connect to progressive issues on a personal level, I was unable to connect with him." Maybe Bernie doesnt connect with you on a personal level, but to say that Bernie doesnt connect to progressive issues on a personal level is just laughable when he has marched for civil rights with MLK, when he has been arrested fighting for equality and when he has led sit ins for equality.

    "He is telling them that both sides are corrupt."
    They are. It's a hard truth to admit, but both sides benefit from being cozy with big business. Even Obama has appointed a Monsanto VP to a cabinet position.

    And then the comparisons to the tea party are just absolutely shameful and disgusting really. Then you just spout off generalization after generalization at the end with no factual support (bc you claim Bernie supporters dont care about facts lol).

    "I cannot have a rational discussion with his followers about issues."
    Therefore, all his supporters are ignorant, sexist Bernie bros who dont have a clue. Truly astounding how you write off this movement he has created so flippantly, even claiming he wants to destroy America. You're seriously out to lunch Angie, unless you can acknowledge the extreme hyperbole you used throughout.

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  21. No, I think Sanders is actually right. Everything does go back to Wall Street and money. For a more academic approach to this, think of Lawrence Lessig. The most important problem may not be Wall Street but the first problem that needs to be solved is the undue influence of money from Wall Street. Only after we remove the inherent bias that comes from incredible wealth can we re-orient our system to the values that support the broader populace. The two are not congruent often enough and other problems will not be tackled effectively until we dampen/undercut the influence of SO. MUCH. MONEY.

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    1. I offer you a much more academic approach ... Study history. Study political ideologies and their historic implications. Then return and tell me about the single time where the objectives of a nation were relegated to a single issue and that nation did not then fall to ruin.

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  22. The amount of hyperbole and outright lying (e.g. Bernie wants to destroy America, Bernie doesn't connect with progressive issues on a personal level) in this article really prevents me from taking your commentary seriously.

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  23. Brilliant editorial Angie. Before I knew Bernard I liked him. Now that I've seen what he would intend for America and the disastrous consequences that would inevitably follow I'd have to say that his vision is not my vision.

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  24. You couldn't be more right in your assessment of his one note campaign.

    For the person above railing about Obama's appointment of a Monsanto executive, how about Bernie's campaign manager, Devine being a Monsanto LOBBYIST? Everytime I point THAT out, I get nothing but crickets!

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  25. This is my first time reading you but it won't be my last. I, too, have tried to give reasonable, well-referenced and non-insult responses to Sanders supporters. I well know what it is like to back a candidate that fails to make the grade. However, it gets me nowhere and I am done. I now just put my information out there so that others who are not so close-minded can read it, and refuse to engage with the enraged others. The are calling for the same rigid purity that the Tea Party did, and they could create the same chaos in the Democratic party if we let them. Luckily, our party as a whole is more open-minded and won't be blackmailed or bludgeoned into letting them have their way. Truly, being a progressive means to make any progress you can, any way you can, any time you can. It does not mean holding out for the perfect, refusing to compromise, or taking a my-way-or-the-highway stand as Sanders has always done.

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