Family Feud, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

February 14, 2016 Victor El-Khouri 0 Comments

Way way back in 1968, I was so angry about the riots outside the Democratic convention in Chicago that I refused to support the nomination of Hubert Humphrey.  I was only 15 at the time, so the subsequent election of Richard Nixon is not really my fault.  However, that experience informs my perception of our current election cycle.

I haven’t been watching the debates.  They make me crazy.  I read about them at length the next day, which I prefer because there is less of me yelling at the television screen.

Apparently, I am not the only one yelling.  And I’m not the only one holding a grudge.

I’m a supporter of Bernie Sanders, but unlike many others, I don’t hate Hillary Clinton.  Bernie’s positions are closer to my own, but i admire Hillary’s career, especially her early work with the Children’s Defense Fund.  I’ve sent money to Bernie, but I’ll donate to Hillary if she is the candidate.  An online poll told me that I agree with Bernie one hundred percent, but I also agree with Hillary 94 percent.  That’s more than I agree with myself from one day to the next.

So I don’t want to fight with Hillary supporters or Bernie supporters.  Lately, I have perceived (perhaps incorrectly) a certain arrogant dismissiveness among Bernie supporters.  Hillary isn’t as ideologically pure as Bernie, nor can she be trusted.  She raises her voice.  She’s part of the system.

Hillary supporters can be just as dismissive.  They imply that Bernie might be right, but he doesn’t offer a plan to accomplish his goals.  It’s naive to think a Republican Congress will be so impressed with his victory that they’ll agree to his agenda.

To me, as a Bernie fan, the more his supporters talk, the less I like them.  And I’m not the only one. To quote Charles Blow from the link, “Sanders is a solid candidate and his integrity and earnestness are admirable, but that can get lost in the noise of advocacy …Tucked among all this Bernie-splaining by some supporters, it appears to me, is a not-so-subtle, not-so-innocuous savior syndrome and paternalistic patronage that I find so grossly offensive that it boggles the mind that such language should emanate from the mouths — or keyboards — of supposed progressives.”

Can’t we all just get along?  In the fall, we’re going to have to.

When I read about the Republicans, I’m struck by a couple of things.  None of them have offered a positive credible plan about what they will do.  Instead, they compete to see who can say the most anti-Obama things.  We know what they’re against, but what, specifically, are they for?

Trump’s appeal is, at best, a hope that he can get things done.  He can, but we might not like the way he does.  These allegations that he worked with the mafia go back over a decade, and his campaign does not deny them.

Can you imagine if Hillary, Bernie or any Democrat had such an experience in the past?  It would all we’d be hearing about on the news.

The problem any Democratic president is going to have is with the Republican Congress, and this will continue to be a problem as long as Republican-controlled state governments get to draw up the boundaries of Congressional districts.  Sanders rightly condemns the amount of money involved in our Presidential elections, but, in fact, it’s even more dangerous at the local level.

The challenge for progressives going forward is not just to elect our people to the White House, but to Congress and to state houses and school boards.  Real revolutions need to happen every day, not just every four years.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, wishes everyone chocolate and roses.