An Open Letter to Bernie Supporters Who Say They Hate Hillary and Won't Vote For Her

Do you have any idea what kind of damage a single Trump term could do to this country and to the world? If you actually value any of the ideals that you say you value and are not just giving them mouth-honor because, hey, it's fun to imagine a world where all of the most progressive causes are realized, you would never, not for one instant, consider doing ANYTHING that could conceivably lead to that man's election. With potentially three *liberal* SCOTUS seats to be replaced? Forget EVERYTHING that you've been wishing for, campaigning for, and dreaming about for these past months; it will be gone. You'll be fantasizing about the good old days of Reagan and W. 

And speaking of them: don't kid yourself by thinking we can somehow get through a single term of Trump and, because it will be so bad, the country will easily swing left then. Reagan pushed the Overton Window so far to the right that freaking NIXON seemed like a Democrat! In fact, at the start of this campaign it was so far to the right that it was generally acknowledged that REAGAN HIMSELF could not run and win as a Republican. And it's 35 YEARS later! 

Take heart in the fact that eight years of Obama/Biden has slid the window considerably back toward the center from the right, where they found it. It may even be slightly *left* of center right now. Take heart in the fact that Bernie's run has given it a gigantic *shove* to the left that will impact the Democratic Party–and its nominee–in the fall. Take heart in the knowledge that, if Hillary is the nominee, she will be running on a platform crafted as much by Bernie's people as by her own, and she will likely need a VP who will appeal to his supporters to guarantee their votes a lot more than she needs anyone to guarantee any state. Take heart too in this: 90+% of what you think you know about Hillary Clinton is the result of a quarter century of carefully crafted smear campaigns run against her almost constantly by a right wing that never liked or accepted her because she didn't fit their mold of what a First Lady should be. There is a reason why, once they find something that they can sink their teeth into, like Benghazi (which THEY have cleared her on now five times) or emails (on which they conveniently overlook the fact that the last four Secretaries of State have had private servers), they don't let it go: they know because they are good at this stuff that the more they keep dragging it up, the more people will believe there is something there.

In the debates, politifact.com rated her slightly ahead of Bernie as the two most honest candidates. Trump was dead last, even behind the man he calls "Lying Ted Cruz." He cannot be trusted with the Presidency. He cannot be allowed to have that office. Period. If the Dems nominate a two-headed orangutan, vote for THAT orange-haired candidate instead of the one the GOP have on the ballot. But don't do what so many people did in 2000 with Nader. Back then, the argument was that there was "no difference" between Gore and W. Right. Tell that to the families of the soldiers killed in his illegal wars. Tell that to the middle class that no longer exists because of his economic policies. Tell that to our children and grandchildren, who are facing a planet that is rapidly becoming unlivable because the guy who literally wrote the book on climate change was kept out of the White House even though he won the popular vote by a partisan SCOTUS just beginning to flex its activist wings. 

You've seen the damage a bad GOP president with a 5-4 majority can do. You REALLY want to see what an even WORSE one with a 7-2 majority can do? Then go ahead: vote Green. Or sit it out. Do it. And while you are watching Bernie's dreams go sinking into the muck over the next four years, knowing they were so close in 2016 and will NEVER be that close again, remember just how much you "hated" Hillary Clinton.