Another progressive has written in and asked me to share their views with the world. This time, Michael Nichols has some VERY interesting thoughts on the rigging of our democracy:

So the big political story yesterday was a chorus of howling by the Democratic faithful over an interview that Susan Sarandon gave to Chris Hayes on MSNBC. “She’s talking about voting for Trump over Hillary!” they howl. I mean, what a horrible human being, right?

Except that she didn’t.

She didn’t say she would vote for Trump if Sanders didn’t get the nod. She didn’t advise others to vote for Trump if Sanders doesn’t get the nod. That’s bullshit, and if you’re repeating that hot garbage, you’re full of bullshit, too.

“Well what about her saying that Trump will bring the revolution?”

Stop that. Cherry-picking is for half-assed religious apologetics and Fox News viewers. This is a bad argument, and I’ll tell you why. If you bother to watch the interview, she is making a case for why a political revolution will happen, for good or for ill. She’s not implying that Trump’s possible presidency would be good in any way. She is simply stating that in stacking the deck against the one honest person in this election, the chance is very real that the Democrats will find themselves hoist by their own petard.

In their deliberate misuse of superdelegates (which were never intended to rig a nomination) they were designed to prevent a non-nomination in case all candidates were unable to shore up the necessary delegates required for a confirmed nomination. That’s why they’re not supposed to factor in until June), the DNC has flown a gigantic middle finger in the face of voters, with the coercive mantra: “Vote blue, no matter who!”

Here’s the thing.

Sarandon made one excellent point about this process; she proclaimed that this election is about choices. But the general election is not the only choice to be made. There are choices being made right now by the elite of the Democratic party that are designed to ensure that after the general election, business will keep rolling right along as usual. Make no mistake: the Democratic party is also guilty of dipping their fingers into the corporate cash bowl. They are equally interested, with few exceptions, in keeping awful legislation like Citizens United as the law of the land. It’s self-preservation. Why would they want to serve the people who vote them in when corporations are people who pay better?

And that is precisely what the majority of Bernie supporters absolutely despise about Clinton, Wasserman-Schultz, and their ilk. They talk a fine game about women’s rights, environmental issues, being anti-war and anti-corruption in politics, but when you examine their voting records, you can spot the corruption all over the place. You can spot the beating of war drums. You can spot the oil stains on their greasy money. And it stinks to high hell.

Don’t get me wrong. I get it. I totally get it. It is imperative that a sorry excuse for humanity like Trump or a feces-worm wearing a human suit like Cruz does not get into the White House. A Trump or Cruz presidency would spell disaster for women, minorities, workers, the LGBTQIA community, people holding faiths (or no faiths at all) other than a certain strain of Christianity, the environment, and anyone with an IQ above 25. It would poison the Supreme Court for decades to come.

The part where the DNC and I disagree is their sense of entitlement to my vote. And that’s the part where other Sanders supporters disagree as well. You can go on and on and on about why it is in the best interests to block people like Trump and Cruz, and I agree with you.

But I also include Clinton in that group.

I won’t deny that Hillary has been a tremendous influence in the American political landscape for at least two decades, and not all of it was for ill. She has done some good as well as some bad. The problem is that I am not entirely convinced that the majority of good she has done wasn’t merely a matter of convenience.

This is not to say that Bernie is perfect. He isn’t. I see the occasional flaw in his records, such as a few of his stances regarding firearms. I can also understand his reasons for taking those stances, and I can respect his decision, even if I disagree with it. I can disagree with his decision and still respect him because I know that his decision wasn’t bought. His decision was based upon his understanding of the law, and for good or ill, he stands by that law. And I stand by him.

So listen up, DNC. It isn’t hard to understand that Bernie was doing the party a favor while gaining an advantage for himself when he registered to run as a Democrat, rather than as an independent. He knew that he would not have gained near the consideration that he has if he didn’t play nice with the two-party charade that has dominated our political circus for generations. That being said, he’s also doing you a solid by giving you an option to return to respectability as a political force. The work that he, along with Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson, has been doing in congress is a necessary inoculation against the corruption that has been seizing the heart of your party. And if you’re going to rig the game so blatantly against the one who’s trying to save you from your own stink, well, I think the point that Sarandon was making is that you’re picking your leaders. But are you, in your hubris, picking Clinton, or are you really disenfranchising that voter base that you claim is so vital to your efforts, and thereby picking Trump?

You need to convince Sanders voters that, should Hillary claim the nomination, she isn’t that candidate that we must hold our nose and vote for anyway. Further, you need to convince us that this is more than a single-issue cause.

Yes, I get that Clinton supports a woman’s right to choose, and that is threatened by every GOP candidate and whatever puppet they put on the SCOTUS bench. I also know that Sanders supports a woman’s right to choose, and he also champions many more causes that I align myself with, like maybe not chasing after more wars in which more of our future generations get to die.

Single-issue voting sucks, single-issue voters suck, and the practice has led to some of the stupidest decisions we have ever made as a nation. Convince us that Hillary isn’t going to be THAT candidate.

You aren’t doing a very good job of it. You need us. We don’t need you.

Follow Girl Du Jour on Facebook, Twitter and here on My Blog