Should Bernie Sanders win?

Can Bernie Sanders win is the wrong question. Liberals should ask, “Should he win.” I'll get to that, but first, can he win? Yes, I think he actually can. The social conditions: disparity of wealth, climate change, police violence and injustice, the rising voice of the anti immigration troglodytes, could be just desperate enough that progressive liberals show up in droves, take charge of the DNC, and put Bernie forth as the nominee. It could happen. But should it happen?

If he wins the primary, can he win the general election and become President of the United States? It could happen. If Trump runs as an independent and splits the conservatives, and enough moderate overcome the “socialist” word, then yes, Bernie could win. Really? Yes, really. Don't forget, a black guy named Barack Obama, with minimal political experience, became president twice. If the stalwarts of the Democratic machine can rally behind a relatively new and untried black guy with a funny name, why not Bernie? Well, one reason: Socialism.

If we put Bernie forward as our candidate, you do realize that a sizable swath of voters will hear, “socialist” which of course equals communist which equals bad. Here's a quote from quora.com: “First, because Socialism means everything you own will be taken away from you.” http://www.quora.com/Why-is-socialism-considered-dangerous-or-bad-for-some-people

If the conservatives unite, and the swing voters buy into fear of the socialism boogey man, Bernie loses, we have a Republican President, with a Republican congress. And if you think it doesn't matter whether we have a Democrat or Republican in the white house, then please stop reading. Move along. There's nothing here for you. Get yourself some Reagan cheese, and paint a pretty picture while repeating this mantra: “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" It does matter who is president. Not as much as we could hope, but enough that we should give it our best fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

So, is Bernie our best fight? He is who we want, an actual honest, person in touch with his heart who will fight for issues we care about. Yes, he represents what we really want. And yes, he actually could win if we're willing to do the work to make it happen. But should he win?

Politics are ugly. Really ugly. And uglier now than ever. We have absolutely the worst congress in our history, almost completely bought and controlled by the vampire squid. Do we want to send forward our hopes and dreams in the form of Bernie Sanders and watch him be consumed by the leaching tentacles and destroyed by icy teeth of the greed hungry lust thirsty beast that has concentrated most of the world wealth into the little circle, and foments hate and discord amongst the masses of the world to create the disorder and fear that  maintains the strangle hold of its treacherous suction cups? We will watch the man we respect become sullied with the political and economic realities of the idiocracy that is us.

Obama was better prepared for it. He knew he would have to murder and kill, and said so flat out from the beginning of his campaign, and as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, which was really weird. Obama makes compromises with the squid so he can get some things done that benefit the mass of us. He knew the ugliness, and not just the usual politics, but of racism he would have to endure, prepared for it, and handled it with admirable grace. He won, twice, and is one of the best men to have held the office of President in all our history.

And still the hopeful, the liberals, the progressives, sprouted angst and began to criticize him, and allowed his approval numbers to plummet. We sent Obama off to the stable to shovel for us, then complained when he came back smelling less than rosy. That Obama has accomplished all that he has, with the congress and the lobbyist machine that he's had to work with, is nothing short of herculean. And still the liberals turned on him.

So liberals, do we really want to pump ourselves up long enough to get Bernie elected, then become disenchanted when our hopes and dreams stall in the mire that is politics? When Sanders continues to order drone strikes, and air strikes, and likely have to order troops into conflicts, will you be willing to dry your tears and accept that compromise? When he can only make minor tweaks to the financial laws, and is forced to work with the very slime balls that created this mess, will you call him a sell out? And if you really want serious change, the kind we really need, are you willing to sacrifice your own hopes and dreams for your own homestead, and simple life of work and domesticity, and dedicate your time and energy to doing the work it will take to implement and sustain real change? Are you prepared to walk the picket lines for the months, maybe years it will take to cut off the tentacles of the vampire squid? Because sending a sincere person off with our hopes and dreams, and then hanging out online commenting about our disappointments, and reposting snarky memes, complaining that the world is still a mess and he or she hasn't fixed it, well, let's not do that.

So, should Bernie win? If we're really ready to change our own lives, and dedicate ourselves to the work of meaningful change, then yes, let's do it. Or if we don't want to do that work, let's at least be willing to accept that he won't change much, and stand behind him anyways, so he can change what he can.