LATE NIGHT MINI-RANT: TIME FOR SOME SANITY

It looks like Hilary took the New York Democratic primary, and is on her way to probably taking the nomination. I will vote for Bernie in the Jersey primary, but I will totally support Hilary if she does in fact win the nomination.

The accusations and vitriol I've seen from both Bernie supporters and Hilary supporters among friends of mine on Facebook is as close to a surrender to rightwing saboteurs as I've seen in my lifetime.

Back in the '60s and '70s in the anti-war and Civil Rights movements, the most extreme accusations were always planted and fostered by provocateurs in the ranks. That was a big part of the disintegration of The Black Panthers and SDS and other radical and progressive groups.

I knew from the cops in my family that the one who provokes the most vitriol and calls for ousters of members who disagree, or worse, calls for violence, were plants, undercover cops or agents whose job it was to create havoc and the disarray that followed.

I've read posts with memes and articles accusing Hilary of the most egregious crimes and violations of basic humanity, and I've seen similarly outrageous attacks on Bernie and his character (and wife in some cases) that could only have been dug up or invented by rightwing agents.

And many people I know have gotten so riled up by these often false, or at least distorted, versions of reality that they have sworn to never vote for whoever isn't their candidate, a defeatist strategy if ever there was one.

It looks like Trump will be the Republican candidate, but if it's Cruz that would be even worse. Either way the Republicans must be defeated, not only in the race for the White House, but in the races for Senators and Representatives as well.

If Hilary gets the nomination and Bernie supporters refuse to vote for her, as many are swearing they will do, and the Republicans win the presidency and keep the Senate and Congress, the devastation to our country and political system will be even worse than that caused by Reagan/Bush and Bush/Cheney. From which we have yet to fully recover.

And the resulting rightwing Supreme Court appointees could be with us for decades to come, overturning even more laws and regulations that help working people, women, and the poor and minorities. And making corporations and the wealthiest even more powerful and unaccountable.