As a Bernie Sanders supporter, I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that he lost and I need to support Hillary, because of the way our democracy functions. But I and all pationate progressives need to remember an important obligation, as we make the transition to supporting her. That is, we must keep the pressure on the Democratic Party and Hillary in particular. The Democratic Platform seems more progressive than it ever has been and Hillary seems more progressive than I, for one, every thought possible. But, we must remember, so far these are only words, whether spoken or written and nothing has been accomplished. We must also make sure Hillary contiues to clarify her actions when they deviate from her “new” progressive image.
The article below found in The Nation Magazine, by Greg Grandin, gives a good example with one of Hillary’s many “not so progressive” previous positions. As the title of that article says “Hillary Clinton’s Embrace of Kissinger Is Inexcusable”. There have been many things that Kissinger has been part of don’t make many of us particularly proud to be an Americans. More to the point, many of these have directly conflicted with almost any definition of being progressive. Yes, Hillary and Kissinger are friends and we all have friends that are sometimes from what we might call the “dark side”. We can understand that, but seeking his endorsement without confronting many of these actions directly conflicts with her supposed progressive political stance. It makes me question and ask again “who is she really and what can I believe”. If I am to support her, I don’t want that irritating voice cropping up.
As Grandin says “Hillary Clinton is courting the endorsement of Henry Kissinger. No surprise. Kissinger and the Clintons go back a ways, to when Bill in the early 1990s sought out Kissinger’s support to pass NAFTA (this alone was not a good thing) and to, in the words of the economist Jeff Faux, serve as ‘the perfect tutor for a new Democratic president trying to convince Republicans and their business allies that they could count on him to champion Reagan’s vision’.” I agree with Grandin, that Bernie and his supporters (all of us progressives) must use stories like this “to draw a line, making clear that they will withdraw their support of Clinton if Clinton accepts Kissinger’s endorsement”. We need to demand this now, do it loudly and do it every time there is an omission or a conflict with the policies adopted in the Democratic platform. Sometimes it may be innocent ommision or oversight, but it must not be ignored.
Read the entire article below and get active. Not paying attention and not acting have consequences. We must remember that democracy is a participation sport. Obviously, it is harder for “We The People” than for corporations and the wealthy, but that excuse does nothing to enable real revolutionary change.
https://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clintons-embrace-of-kissinger-is-inexcusable/