With all the What Happened? teeth gnashing and the Hillary v. Bernie resurgence, we have lost sight of the truth in this mix. The truth is, America has a President who is totally incapable of the job. I listened to the Stephanie Miller liberal talk radio program this morning and heard comic Ron Placone fire a verbal salvo at Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ.). Booker recently described the cyber intrusion of our election process by Russian hackers as, “an act of war.” Placone thought this too provocative or suggestive. From his inference, he seemed to be accusing Booker of promulgating war. Hillary followers were wondering why Bernie is not beating the drum for Hillary, explaining why and how she could lose; Bernie people wanted to know why Hillary is not on the stump with Bernie, talking Medicare for all? [That whirring sound is my head spinning.]
Why do we argue over the things we have come to an agreement on?
No liberal, progressive, Hill-bot or Bernie-bro I know, disagrees that everyone needs available/affordable healthcare. To varying degrees, Democrats agree that Russian interference played a role in electing Donald Trump. I have never heard Bernie say, I hate Hillary of Hillary say, I hate Bernie. So why the misplaced anger? Conservatism is again fiddling in Rome, stir the pot and the crabs will pull each other in. In the past week, Democrats have either made tangible gains in the Debt Ceiling debate and maybe a precarious deal on DACA. Of course, I am not getting my hopes too high, after all those deals are brokered with a proven liar and con man (but that is beside the point, or is that the point?). Anyway, the concentration should be on holding the GOP’s feet to the fire and pressuring the President into getting something we want. If he thinks he is winning, he will sign anything. Let us not make the term compromise a dirty word.
National consensus, even among Republicans, is that DACA is not the evil conservative pundits make it out to be. Clearly, no rational person thinks, The Wall is feasible and the Tax Reform non-bill already has its Republican detractors. During this time when Democrats could be setting up for the coup de gras, we are wasting time telling a successful woman to shut up and demanding Bernie be more genteel. I know the adage of, Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line is an old cliché, but it is not worn out. Liberals should never abandon their ideas of free thinking, but on occasion, snapping to and saluting is not a bad idea. Bill Clinton made the phrase, a rising tide lifts all boats popular in the 90’s, it is time for Democrats and like-minded thinkers to build a battleship.
Whether we like it or not we are all on deck together and entrenching ourselves in the unnavigable waters of anti-compromise sinks us all.
I am a Black man who rode with the tide of bigotry and history when Barack Obama announced his candidacy in 2007, I backed Hillary. A,” by strict definition, African-American man,” with the middle name Hussein, could never be President of the United States, I thought. Fortunately, I was not entrenched in my disbelief, had I been, President McCain and Vice President Palin would have bombed Iran, North Korea, Syria and possibly Russia by now. Sure, that was an easy compromise for me, voting literally for the fruition of Dr. King’s Dream; or for a man with so little judgment, he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. In the 2016 election primary I chose Hillary again, but had Bernie won, just as in 2008, the choice would have been made for me by his opponent. It does not take a genius to figure out that the intelligence and qualifications of Hillary or Bernie far exceed those of Donald Trump. So, before I start sounding pious, remember, what is received is far more important than the messenger.
Vote in 18’ for Change.