Do you know? I grew up under Communism... I hail from one of the countries that used to be behind the so-called "Iron Curtain". Seems so long ago right? Most young people today would probably have as much knowledge about the Soviet Union as they do about the Roman Empire (the Roman Empire being the beneficiary).
But I digress. Being from that part of the world, I am perhaps somewhat jaded when it comes to tests of loyalty and party purity. Of course, by the time I went to high school Stalinism had been roundly and thoroughly discredited. But even so, when I went to high school, I learned in my history classes that Stalinism's greatest sin was the "hunt for the enemy within the party"... well, the exact translation is "hunt for the enemy with a party membership card".
So you will, perhaps, understand the distaste with which I regard the animosity between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders' supporters on this site. And you will, perhaps, understand my skepticism when it comes to subjecting anyone to tests of loyalty.
I look at both parties now. I follow Republican arguments and conservative websites. I know Republicans have lost their way. More, that conservatism has lost its way. I sort of like that. If humanity is to survive, if we are to live better, if we are going to leave a better world to our children and grandchildren, then progressivism is the way. We simply can no longer afford political leadership that clings to climate-change denialism and regards running a country as akin to running a business, complete with profit-loss statements and bankruptcy.
But then I look at us in the Democratic party and I am not reassured. The republicans have their Tea Party and their Freedom Caucus. Want to know my solution to the Speakership crisis in Congress? Let the Freedom Caucus secede as a separate party, thus making the Republicans a minority, and then we can have Nancy Pelosi as the leader of the largest caucus in Congress, become Speaker. But these are solutions from a parliamentary system which America is not.
What I am getting at, after all this, is that it does not make sense for progressives to become a spoiler for the Democrats in the way that the Tea Party has hobbled Republicans for years. It simply does not.
I am a Hillary Clinton supporter. But I watched Bernie Sanders' speech at the Jefferson Jackson dinner in Iowa, and then I watched his interview with Rachel Maddow last night. I absolutely love Senator Sanders' agenda. I love his dedication to working-class and middle-class people. I love his desire to hold corporations accountable, to make them pay their fair share (not that Hillary Clinton disagrees on that).
At the same time, I watched Hillary's performance at the Benghazi Committee hearing, and then I watched her interview with Rachel Maddow. What I like about her is her fighting spirit. She has a knee-jerk reaction to Republican positions. I trust that. I trust that after decades of being in the Republicans' crosshairs, she instinctively distrusts anything they like.
But this is as it may be. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders may fight for being perceived as "authentic" and "truthful" and "dedicated". I will not split hairs here. Nor will I argue that the differences between them are immaterial or trivial. But...
I believe all of us here are on the same page, more or less. All of us would like to see Supreme Court appointments that permanently disable the conservative wing of the Court... (Could we, perhaps, appoint President Obama as a Supreme Court justice the next time there is a vacancy?). I imagine that if the Supreme Court is clearly lost to conservatives that Justice Roberts will resign rather than face an career of being a permanent minority, thus giving us another vacancy. All of us would like to see an environmentally-friendly agenda, slowing and hopefully reversing climate change. All of us, I hope, would like to see a victory in the Republicans' War on Women -- and what better victory than to defeat their candidate with an educated, accomplished, and articulate woman as Hillary Clinton is (you can read this as my bias). All of us would like to see a common sense immigration reform (I urge you to read what Paul Ryan said on the subject today).
My point? Either Bernard Sanders or Hillary Clinton will be MUCH better than anything the Republicans can offer right now. My point? Caucuses and primaries are coming. Work for your candidate! Advance their agenda! Canvass for them! But when voters speak and a winner emerges, do not draw back if it is not the person you support. Do not! A Clinton presidency will not be equivalent to a Trump, or Cruz, or Rubio presidency (because she is corporatist war-monger who spends the nights poring over poll results so she can flip-flop some more tomorrow in order to gain an extra 2% of the vote). And a Sanders victory is not, in the end, either unlikely, or that difficult (when you consider who is on the other side). And a Sanders' presidency may or may not be dysfunctional (because he is a self-described socialist with a leftist agenda).
My point? We are stronger together. We are. A Democratic president will be much the better result in November 2016. No matter who the Democrat is. Because, remember, there is the bully pulpit. And because, remember, if a Republican wins, much of what we consider progressive in the last 8 years of Obama's presidency will be lost or challenged. We will be set back.
And so. Fight for your candidate. Work your heart out. Rejoice, or weep when the primaries happen. Gloat or suffer as the nominee emerges. But, in the name of this ideal we call the United States of America, don't you dare shirk when it's election time. Don't you dare draw back, don't you dare do anything else but be there for the Democratic candidate. Our lives depend on it. The fate of the world depends on it. The very future of humanity depends on it.