It Takes a Village!

No matter how disappointed progressive people who supported Bernie and real change in this country are about the way the DNC did not give him a fair chance_did not follow the will of the people_ why are we surprised that the “powers that be” would not support change that would take away their power over the masses? The chicanery has been exposed now as a “fact” even though we knew in our hearts what was going on, and Hilary has not chosen a running mate who would be our first choice. So what do we do now? What’s our next step?

A third party may truly be what we need, but not now. We haven’t got the foundation built so that we could win! I have to admit though that I can see the wisdom of choosing Tim Kaine. He is a likable guy, he has tons of experience to contribute, he seems honest and he can bring in the swing state of Virginia and maybe the Senate and Congress at times. Watching what I could stomach of the latest from Trump, we do have to stop him; we cannot allow him to be elected. And it sounds like there is a chance that he could be elected. No.

I don’t think we should look at this as “submitting” to the Clinton campaign or being disrespected or “losing”. Yes, our position is being disrespected but again what do we expect from people who have been in charge for a long time and want to keep it that way! Perhaps we need to “surrender” to where we are right now and keep making headway on implementing all the things we believe in. We’ve made some headway on important issues such as TPP, a public option in healthcare and student loans in the Democratic platform; now we’ve got to work to get those things implemented in Congress. The revolution has just begun; Rome was not built in a day! At some point, when we have built a foundation, perhaps we can elect a third party candidate if the Dems won’t come along, but for now, I think we need to build on our successes and keep Donald Trump out of the Whitehouse!

Listening to Bernie on the Sunday shows this morning, I agree with the way he is reflecting on this. Was it a fair competition in the primary? No, it wasn’t. Here in Arizona, Clinton claims that she won but the way that she won was by keeping a great number of people from voting_some estimate a million progressive Democrats and Independents could not vote_ and by reducing the number of voting places from over 200 to 60. People stood in long lines for hours; many were given provisional ballots that were never counted. CNN announced the winner in AZ while people still stood in line to vote. This has got to stop! It is all part of the “old order”. It’s not the first time it has been initiated by either side of the aisle. If a candidate cannot win an election honestly, what does that say about them?

Duality is all about the struggle between two polar opposites; so are political parties in this country. They create division among people rather than uniting the in common purpose. Those who say we can never have more than two major parties are wrong, in my opinion. When we add a third successful party, we will shift out of duality and the division that it creates, and move into a higher level of consciousness with respect and policies that are fair for all. But we have to build a foundation for it so that it has an equal voice and can succeed. In the meantime, we can still make a difference by working towards fairness and equality for all. It’s not an easy task, but as Hilary Clinton once said “It Takes a Village”!