Here I sit in my overly large Bernie hoodie, sadly looking
at the cat who is looking at the dog.
The dog is curled up in a ball looking sideways at us both, and she
looks as dejected as I am tempted to feel.
Yet, what I want to say to everyone I know, and don’t know, who believes
in the ideas Bernie stands for is don’t give up.
1) When Bernie
started to run, we knew this wouldn’t be easy, and he has done better that
probably anyone could have guessed a year ago.
2) A vote for Bernie
is more than just a vote for an individual candidate; it is a vote for a vision
of what we would like our country to be.
3) To me the
fundamental difference between Sanders and Clinton supporters with similar policy
preferences is their understanding of how change is accomplished. Clinton supporters seem to see change as more
of a top down and incremental process.
Sanders supporters recognize change as the inevitable outcome of
movements that start from the bottom and do not give up. As recent evidence of this, I point to the
marriage equality movement and the $12 and $15 minimum wage laws passed across
the country. Historically, I look to
FDR and the New Deal. Yes, there was a
devastating financial crisis in the 1930s, but there was also an active left that
pushed hard for policies that would benefit ordinary people.
4) I wonder if our
country has ever really been a democracy. What
will it take for the evidence of democracy's demise to be so overwhelming that it can no longer be
ignored by the corporate press? I wonder
if this cycle might bring us close to the tipping point. This emperor has been hanging out in his
birthday suit for a long time now.
5) I choose
hope. Wealthy interests that like our political
system just as it is do not want the majority of people to vote. They have been going to a great deal of
trouble to prevent many of us from doing so, so I will vote. My vote may not be counted or may be changed
electronically, but I will do it with great enthusiasm anyway.
I will vote for a candidate whose ideas and integrity I
believe in rather than engaging in another soul destroying bout of voting for
the practical or least worst candidate. I
choose hope by continuing to voice my support for a man whose ideas I agree
with wholeheartedly, no matter how fiercely all the talking heads and
respectable people in the media tell me it is fruitless. I choose hope by vowing to continue to work
for those ideas regardless of the outcome of this one race.
I choose hope because I do love my country and my
planet. They are both in danger, and I want
them both to be here for a long time.
To those who say, “Don't you care about stopping the Republican menace?” or “We need to unite the party,” I say, I’m
not interested in uniting behind a party that doesn’t represent me. If the party can change and discard some of
its corporate moorings, I will consider it.
Living in California, I know my vote doesn’t count for much according to
the pundits, but my vote matters to me.
I hope it matters to you, too. Damn
the torpedoes. It is time to vote for
someone I actually believe in.
