1/ Bernie's base may be naive re: how change happens & what he can accomplish. But between naivete & cynicism (i.e., we can't provide universal health care 'bc rich people') I'm inclined to choose naivete & then fight. Trump is King of Cynicism. No cynic can beat him at that game
2/ I say this as someone who has MAJOR disagreements with Bernie on some key things (mostly strategic and analytical) and finds some of his base execrable. But again, between that and the cynicism of other Dems who are near the top against him, the choice is clear...
3/ And if there's 1 thing more aggravating than Bernie's base threatening to not vote for any1 else, it's those who ALWAYS lecture the left to suck it up & vote lesser of two evils acting like that shit doesn't apply to them. Practice what you preach...you don't have to like it..
4/..we on the left don't like it either. But if you care about stopping fascism & Trumpist authoritarianism, you'll stop acting like some Indiana Mayor can save us, or Joe Biden or a racist oligarch. None of them can win. Bernie may not either, but that's up to YOU...
5/ ..and if he doesn't it will be because YOU were unwilling to do the right thing: the very thing you accuse (rightly) Jill Stein voters of doing, or abstainers of doing...enough. The future of the country is at stake. Act like it...I'll write a longer piece about this soon...
6/ but let's be clear. Drawing this out to make Jennifer Rubin, David Brooks, Chris Matthews & Jim Carville happy is absurd. Time to cut bait. Time to smash Trumpism and stand up for a different vision of America even if most of it won't come to pass (at least not anytime soon)..
7/ Which means it's time to coalesce behind Bernie now and then fight like hell to beat Trump. We can then get back to critiquing Bernie (like we should ALL politicians) about the stuff we feel they don't get right. He's no God. No savior. And we need not act as cult members...
8/...but he's the guy who is beating everyone else's ass and has the most committed and representative base of voters. That is simply true. I wish he was better on lots of things. I wish some of his base weren't such assholes on Twitter. But ya know what?...
9/ ..Little Billy Anarchy-Tat isn't gonna be the Secretary of Labor, so his dickishness doesn't matter. He'll be the same loser after the election that he was before. Ignore him. This is about what vision of America do you support?...
10/ I did not prefer Sanders at the beginning of this process, and still frankly prefer Warren for a number of reasons. But the writing is on the wall and I can read. Time is ticking away, and it's time to choose. Which side are you on? Ultimately that's all this is about now...
