Pick Your Poison

“So. The presumptive nominees for the two major parties are among the most singularly despised people on the North American continent. One makes terrible decisions as a matter of course, and the other has no ideas whatsoever beyond a fictional notion of his own greatness.” 

William Rivers Pitt

“You’re gonna’ have to get over it,” my wife told me the morning after Hillary Clinton won the California primary. “I don’t want to hear you bitch for the next five months.”

I thought Bernie would do better in my home state, in fact, I thought he was going to win the primary and delay the coronation of Madam Clinton. I never believed that Sanders could overcome Clinton’s iron grip on the Democratic Party machinery and actually win the nomination -- the table was rigged from the jump. Look at the debate schedule, the one-sided media coverage, the primary rules, all of it tilted in favor of Madam Clinton. But Bernie and his supporters, millions of them young and getting their first exposure to national politics, made a contest out of what was supposed to be a stroll in the park for Hillary. God, how that must have ticked her off, the clear, unassailable fact that millions of people simply don’t trust her or like her.

The mainstream corporate media did its best to ignore Sanders, but when the man started winning states and pulling in huge crowds, the networks and elite pundits had no choice but to take notice. Clinton’s carefully managed campaign stops never approached the enthusiasm and energy of a Sanders event; Bernie’s message and connection with people -- particularly the young -- was genuine rather than manufactured.

Deep in her shriveled, money-grubbing, neoliberal, war-mongering, power hungry, and utterly corrupt heart, I’m sure Madam Clinton knows -- has to admit to herself in a quiet moment -- that Bernie Sanders would have cleaned her clock if the playing field had been level. If the fight had been fair, Clinton would have been smoked.

You can bet that all the Democratic Party honchos and heavyweights, from President Obama down, will now strongarm Sanders to abandon his quest and throw his weight and, more importantly, encourage his supporters to toss their collective weight to Madam Clinton so she can defeat the evil, atavistic Donald. The bigwigs will guilt Bernie, tell him that if his reluctance or refusal to enthusiastically support Clinton helps Trump win the White House, the fault will be his and his alone, and does he want to risk being the man responsible for placing Trump’s finger on the nuclear trigger? C’mon, Bernie, they’ll say, do it for party unity, for your country and your legacy. Clinton’s not the enemy.

Yeah, the honchos will lay it on Bernie heavy and thick.

Meanwhile, the Donald -- deluded by his own myth -- thinks he actually has a chance of enticing Bernie’s supporters into his camp. The Donald can’t seem to grasp that the views and dreams of Bernie’s people are antithetical to his. Bernie’s followers are inclusive, multicultural, tolerant of differences, and forward-thinking, in short, everything that Trump’s supporters are not.

I remind myself that America is a democracy in name only, and that our elections are tainted and fraudulent, which explains why our choice in November will be between a dangerous buffoon and a serial liar who happens to be a woman; I have no issue with the woman part, none at all. My issue is the fact that her name is Hillary Clinton, wife of Bill, the man who, as much as any single political figure, dragged the Democratic Party to the right.

This nation cannot afford a President Trump any more than it can afford another President Clinton. Pick your poison, voters, and cross your fingers.