Well, it looks like Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I myself have been a supporter of Bernie Sanders, and I am not entirely pleased with this result.

That being said, I have to concede that she did win, fair and square. It bothers me to hear the hullaballoo from the “Bernie or Bust” crowd, because so many of the slings they’ve cast at Clinton were the same slings cast at her by the Right Wing, Lo! these past thirty years. If after thirty years of hounding the Clintons their enemies have failed to actually turn up anything substantive against them, then I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s all bullshit. And it infuriates me to have seen fellow “Bernie-crats” hurl the same accusations of dishonesty, untrustworthiness, and vague criminal activities.

The fact is, that I supported Bernie over Clinton, because I like his ideas for governance better than I like hers. I prefer his areas of focus to hers. And I dislike the fact that Hillary Clinton is as beholden to her Wall Street owners as any Republican. I don’t think that Hillary is a bad candidate, or a poor choice. I simply think that Bernie would have been better.

Now, I am hoping that Bernie sees his campaign through to the end. I do not believe we can win, however, there is still important work that needs to be done. A great movement has grown up around Bernie, espousing his Democratic Socialist ideas. And I think that Bernie and his supporters should now form a block within the Democratic Party, and work to push the party Leftward again. They need to make sure that the party, and Clinton adopt as much of our platform as possible, and work to make it a reality in our government. We can yet lay the groundwork for true Democratic Socialism in the next election cycle.

My larger fear is that too many of us will give up, and allow the country to crumble further, by either allowing Trump to be elected, or by not holding Hillary to more Leftist principles than she has heretofore displayed. At worst, perhaps all of us “Berners” should throw our support behind the Green Party; it is possible that we may have the numbers to in fact make a viable third party in America a viable entity.

But for now, the focus must be on defeating the Right Wing, both in the Presidential and mid-term elections, and on moving the Democratic party as far to the left as we can. I am sickened by the Right Wing jingoism, racism, obstructionism, and their bizarre compulsion to monetize everything that can possibly be exploited for profit for themselves and their masters. Government is supposed to be a service, to protect citizens, ensure equal opportunity in Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and equity before the law. It is NOT there to guarantee the profit margins of banks and corporations, and to protect the privileges of the wealthy. Nor is it there to get us into immoral wars of aggression against people who have done us no harm, simply so the military-industrial complex can make more money.

*psigh*

Rant over, for now, I guess. See you all at the convention….