Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Doing the Cattle Call

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

As Bernie's campaign fades away, as indeed it is doing, and Hillary's tries to rev up and pivot toward the general election, all the while dodging subpoenas and the ghosts of twenty-year-old scandals, many good Americans are struggling with the question of how much of our integrity and self-respect should we be willing to abandon in order to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.

How long should Americans be content with a political system that seems to continually force us to choose between the lesser of two evils, a major grifter versus a moderate grifter?

The Republican race is over, and impossible as it seems, the Grand Old Party has settled on nominating one of the most repugnant candidates in the nation's history.  The Democrats are poised to be the first major political party in the United States to nominate a woman for the presidency, and despite that woman's many, many flaws, it still represents a seismic, ceiling-shattering event of historic proportions.

Sadly, Mrs. Clinton elbows her way to the throne primarily by force of entitlement.  It is "her" throne, eight years delayed, and now hers for simply having the stamina to wait out history.   America is long overdue for leadership by a woman - but why that woman?  With over half of the nation's population being women, why do we have to settle for Hillary as the only option?  Former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis would be a remarkable candidate, as would Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Patty Murray.  Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor would also be an exceptional choice.

But nobody can get past Hillary.  It's her turn, and like the Titanic's iceberg, she ain't moving out of the way for anybody.

Hillary's bitter supporters, the ones who snort that she could have had the nomination in a cakewalk if Bernie had been a gentleman and stepped aside as it became apparent that he could not win, are now wondering aloud what Bernie will do to "deliver" his supporters to Hillary.  The Bernie camp has responded, rightly, that effecting that shift in support is her problem, not his.

Bernie's people aren't cattle waiting stupidly to be driven from one campaign to another.  If Hillary wants them, she has to figure out a way to bring them into her herd.

We must be earned, Hillary, not gifted.

It's still a long slog between here and November, and the road ahead will fork many times.  It's going to take a lot more than entitlement to corral this herd and get it to market.

No comments: