I was born and raised in a democratic household, and I've been proud to call myself a Democrat my entire adult life. Being married to a progressive-leaning independent, there have been many arguments (in a good way) over the past decades in my house about the democratic candidates and the party itself, and at the end of all of them, I would say that even though my party wasn’t perfect, it still held the same core values I held, and I would never, NEVER consider myself anything except a Democrat.
Well, at the age of 52 I’ve realized that the party does not hold the same core values I hold, and is in fact as corrupt as the republican party. Watching them do every underhanded thing they can to sink Bernie’s campaign, instead of fighting fairly — issues vs. issues — and letting the people decide. Seeing them work hand in hand with corporate interests to make sure legislation that crushes the poor, disenfranchised, and middle class gets passed, instead of fighting like hell to protect the least among us. Enabling and allowing the corporate media to lie or hide from the American people what’s really going on (Democracy Spring anyone?) instead of using their leverage to speak truth to power. Ensuring corporate bankrollers, banksters, and the donor-class get even larger slices of the economic pie, while the number of children who go to bed hungry and without hope for a decent future every day increases, it’s just too ugly for me to stomach.
Maybe the last log that broke this camel’s back was seeing Where to Invade Next by Michael Moore a few days ago. I believe the movie was meant to give us hope, but for me, it highlighted just how far we’ve fallen. And it’s a hole I don’t think we can climb out of. I urge all of you to watch it, if you can stand to see how bad we look to the rest of the world.
I’m deeply ashamed of this country. We’ve always had a troubled history, but after a couple of centuries, we don’t have any more excuses. We should have learned from our mistakes by now and grown into a better society. Instead, in 2016 we still don’t give a damn about the poor, the working class, children, women, native-Americans, our fellow citizens who happen to be a different race and/or religion, or even the only planet we have to live on. We’re a country of hate, bigotry, violence, and rampant greed.
The moment in that movie that stands out to me, and maybe from Michael Moore’s reaction on film, the one that stood out for him too, was the woman near the end who said she’d never want to live in our country because of how we treat our neighbors, and she’s right. We like to think we’re a caring and compassionate people, a great nation, but we aren’t. We’re small and petty and mean. You only have to look as far as the snarky comments thrown back and forth on this so-called 'progressive’ forum, if you don’t believe it.
We don’t have to be that way. If we had a leader who was strong and passionate enough to fight the rich and powerful, things might turn around, but I have zero faith President Clinton 2.0 is going be that kind of leader. Nor will the Democratic party push her in that direction. There will be window dressing and band-aids galore in the next four years assuming she manages to beat Trump, but nothing substantive will happen. At least not until something truly horrible happens that no one can ignore, and by then it may very well be too late for the last tattered remains of this country and it’s democracy.
So I’m done. I give up. The fix is in and there’s no use going along with the charade any longer. The rising number of independents in this country, who I now understand because I also don’t believe either party gives a damn, just got another member.
To those of you who are still true believers and honestly excited about Hillary, I wish you well. I know these are good days for you and you should enjoy them.
For the trolls, paid by donations from regular people who still have hope and those who giddily troll for free and are about to post snarky remarks below, go to hell.
I’ll check back as much as I can, and if anyone has something substantive to say, or wants to talk about the movie, I’ll respond.