Lockerian Times #4

Hello to all of my lovely readers! I hope you have a wonderful stay and a wonderful day :3

Now, I've neglected my role as a blogger lately. I tried to write, but I wrote myself into obscurity and saw it best to withhold the next edition of the Lockerian Times. Things were busy. But today we've got a pretty good state of mind which I will display.

Bernie Sanders is cooked. The MSM, the DNC, and all these big letter institutions have taken us out. Notwithstanding the stupid accusations from the shell fund bought-and-paid-for Nevada Democratic Party that we're inherently violent chair-throwers, it's kind of impossible for us to win unless if California is the greatest political upset in world history. And the frustrated loser in me wants to say that they've taken us out for good. Luckily tonight I have more to say than the words of a frustrated loser. It is imperative to remember just what I voted for on March 1st and what all we Bernie supporters – those who were able to make it to the polls and those who were disenfranchised through various primary mechanisms – brought to the field this year.

I was with Bernie since he first announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination. Everybody discounted us as the underdogs against an inevitable nominee, and the spectres of dark money and mass misinformation rose to meet us. We were toast before we even hit the polls, so the story was. But I saw from the very beginning that our movement was going somewhere, and I believed with all my heart that we could beat Hillary. Because all the money in the world can't stifle real humanistic effort. Donald Trump took the headlines and the hearts and minds some time last year, which unfortunately lasted forever. I didn't predict Trump's run or anything, but I knew that the news cycle would remain mostly free of substance.

I'm part of what the New Republic magazine once called the "permanent adversarial culture". Our institutions warrant little faith from me, especially with all of the unaccountable money running around. Whenever Bernie brought up Hillary's ties to Wall Street, her immediate and visceral response was always "BUT, PRESIDENT OBAMA!" to the sound of rehearsed cheering. "President Obama" was a political ploy aimed directly at black voters in a way reminiscent of the old political hate machines of the South. Maybe people will get pissed at me for going so far, but the remarks were very revealing of Hillary's nature as a politician. That is, a bad one – however, as is often lamented, maybe she's the best that our system can produce.

Clintonites failed constantly to reassure we Bernie Buddies about how her Goldman Sachs speeches were unimportant and about how she would slam the gavel on them when she was elected. If I were a Clintonite, I would have certainly done it in a more empathetic way. But now we Bernie Buddies are expected to swallow it up and tow the line. We've gotta see a future radically different than our preference take hold and we gotta cheer it on back in the dummy's corner, because if we don't, one reactionary billionaire is gonna shlong another reactionary billionaire.

The heroic Edward Snowden has a fat chance in Hell of coming home anytime soon without being at risk of unlawful detainment and public flagellation. Lawlessness within the financial sector will flourish unimpeded, although Lady President may snap her fingers at the big bad bankers every once and again, comically asking them to cut it out. Men, women, and children from some of the most violent parts of the world will continue to be deported back into bloodshed, and the problems which our government caused which came to destroy their countries will be fully on the childrens' shoulders. The civil rights of every American citizen will be impeded by the rapidly-growing 4th branch of the government, our mass civilian spying apparatus. The weather's gonna go fucking crazy in large swaths of the world soon. And man, those of us who question this insanity are gonna get so much hate, all for the sake of the unity of a stupid party which turned from heirs of the racist fearmongers to the corporate monstrosity.

Despite our being a relatively new force built where nothing had before existed, it seemed often like we could win. After Bernie tied with Hillary in Iowa, I proudly donated 7 dollars to his campaign. Bernie needed the money of the people to stay afloat, because he had refused to take large contributions or accept the help of the unresponsible Super PACs. Once he won New Hamsphire, his chances increased drastically, as no one has ever become a party's nominee without winning one of these two states. Even after the schlonging of the century on Super Tuesday, I kept hope alive, and I believed in Bernie. Because the guy talked about "we", and not just "me".

The guy was overall the best man for the job, although he could probably have been 39 years younger and with a face like Justin Trudeau. His religion was that "We're all in this together", and for his whole life he had stood like a rock on this principle. He took the unparalleled move of "slamming" former State Secretary Henry Kissinger for committing war crimes in Indochina, and he had been in opposition to the Nicaraguan Contra death squads in the 80's when he visited Nicaragua. He's called for a world free of nuclear weapons, and a foreign policy based on good diplomacy with war as the last option. He refused to scapegoat LGBT people when it was all too politically correct to do so. Bernie even talked about expanding worker ownership of the workplace and re-unionizing America. Some more people could have gotten out to vote for him, but we changed shit together. How else could a guy like this make it this far?

Bernie believed in America, and America believed in him right back. Even a little birdie saw fit to give him a welcome to Seattle or some other city by landing on his podium during a speech. Our run was a beautiful demonstration of how hard the spirit of man can fight, and we will go down in history to inspire generations of people to believe in themselves and to believe in each other. But for right now, there's work left to do. We've got to keep hope alive.

My opinion on Bernie or Bust follows.

Firstly, I'm from Georgia. We are a deep red state, meaning that Democrats usually lose us by a 5 point margin. Before that weird time in 1992 where Bill Clinton triumphed in a three way race and won us by a couple points, a Democrat has not won here since Georgian President Jimmy Carter carried the state in 1980. I'm still waiting on seeing the general election candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump move their positions around before I make up my mind about who will be the lesser evil in the main race. I was originally not going to vote because we couldn't win and I didn't want to cost the poll people the time of deciphering my write-in ballot. HOWEVER, the Green Party recently gained ballot access in our state, and I admire Jill Stein. Naturally, I'll still vote for liberals and moderates down the ticket. And I'll also vote in other elections, assuming I haven't suddenly become a Republican.

Other people can call it a protest vote all they want. But I like to think of it as voting for the person I actually want to win and who I think would be best for the job. They should try it some time.

John Lockers

20/5/16