We lost and the stakes in this election are too high to play Bernie or bust.
For full disclosure, I don't support an assault weapons ban. I don't think it solves the problem. But I acknowledge, like basically anyone else in the country with two brain cells to rub together, that the number of mass shootings, and crimes committed with guns, is a national problem that needs to be addressed.
The fact that the GOP won't even take up a vote underscores the importance of ensuring we have a balance of power in Washington.
There are a few other important reasons why Bernie or bust is counterproductive, but let me address the elephant in the room.
I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton. If you follow me on social media then you know that. She's all the things people say about her, dishonest, untrustworthy, entitled, only committed to the values of the party when it suits her, flip-flops, sold-out unions, dishonest, difficult to like and dishonest.
The problem is Donald Trump. The reality is that so many people hate Hillary that they are willing to forgo their values and good sense to vote for a racist, self-centered, greedy, and dangerous mo-fo like Trump.
Every vote that Hillary doesn't get, benefits Trump. If you don't understand that, then you just don't understand election math.
There are two types of Bernie supporters (mostly). The younger ones are millennials and hold no allegiance to the Democratic Party. They are liberal, but they would just as well be socialists as Democrats. Then there are the older really progressive liberals. Some of them are hippies, some are yuppies, and some are one issue voters (environmentalists, union people, social justice people). They don't all fall nice and neat into those two groups, but for the most part, thats how they roll.
The younger ones tend to be the Bernie or Bust people, although there are a fair amount of the older ones that are just sick and tired of the Party not being "left-enough". Admittedly, I'd fall into that category, if it weren't for Trump.
The older liberal progressives are probably a little more pragmatic and want to pull the Party back to our liberal roots. They will more easily vote for the nominee because they have been around since before McGovern and understand that you have to win an general election.
Look Bernie or Busters, I get it. You want very much to stick to your guns and the thought of voting for Hillary turns your stomach.
It turns mine too.
But you have to look at the bigger picture here. We have to stop Trump at any costs. The man is a danger to this country. No patriot would ever want that idiot to have his finger on the bomb.
So don't look at it like your voting for Hillary (even though you must), look at it as your blocking Trump from winning. Sadly, its like being a Cowboy fan. Not in the playoffs, but at the end of the year you're just trying to salvage a little dignity in being a spoiler.
Any vote that goes to anyone but Hillary at this point helps Trump. You aren't sending a message if you don't make a sizable dent in anything and Green Party candidates and Libertarians NEVER make a dent. No one every remembers them. They never accomplish anything. They become the Ralph Nader of history. Smart guy that is ultimately right, but ineffective because he can't get elected.
I know you won't like hearing this and right now you are losing your shit over reading this, but Bernie or Bust is ultimately counter-productive. Especially if enough of them stay home and don't vote or blow their vote on the Green Party or worse, the Libertarian.
Trump doesn't have enough support in his own party to win. He is depending on bringing out other people and like it or not, you're contributing to that guy if you take away votes for Hillary.
So here is how its going to go down. I'm very, very, very reluctantly going to vote for Hillary. Liker Bernie Sanders himself. Hopefully she wins.
She will be a disaster and be a one-term president and the Republicans will get their collective shit together in 4 years and take back the White House.
But its the next 4 years that are the most critical because of one other really important urgency...the Supreme Court.
For the first time in a couple of generations its actually possible to have a majority of liberals on the Supreme Court, which would make this country a lot better place to live.
The stakes are really high in this election. Do you want Trump shaping the future of the Supreme Court, or do you want a Democrat doing so, even if it is Hillary?
As they say at the end of every episode of Epic Rap Battle of History, YOU DECIDE!
SIDEBAR: I know its been awhile since I've written anything and as a result, my bitches in the blogosphere haven't written much either. But hey, since I wrote something, they can all now get back to blogging. You're welcome El Paso.