Holding strong beliefs — be they political or otherwise — is a mark of character, maturity and faith. But acting on said beliefs when such action will prove detrimental to your personal well-being — or to the commonweal — is the mark of a fool. At some point pragmatism should win out over political pettiness, outright stubbornness and fatalistic faith.
Green Party (as well as Bernie) diehards who steadfastly refuse to accept the fact that, in spite of all of her flaws — legitimate and conjured — Hillary is the standard-bearer in this election cycle, are getting set to cut off their noses to spite their faces.
They’re picking entirely the wrong hill to die on.
Without a shadow of a doubt the platforms of both the Greenies and the Bernies are far superior to the platform of the Democratic National Committee put forth. But moral superiority and purity of purpose doesn’t win elections, political pragmatism does.
Never mind that even if Bernie (or Jill Stein of the Green Party) had somehow managed to get elected, their chances of enacting legislation based on their lofty goals would have been virtually nil. Indeed, it’s going to be difficult even for a seasoned Washington insider and veteran like Clinton to get the deals done that will move our country ahead and in the right direction once she is elected.
While the lunatic fringe on the right is absolutely maddening (if you pay too much attention to these wing nuts), the fringe on the left is even more maddening, and here’s why: With Hillary as president the country will certainly move more in the direction the Greenies and Bernies want it to go than if the other side wins. But that’s not good enough for these political purists. They want to have it their way, and like spoiled brats, they want to have it right now.
They get stuck on stupid because “their” candidate can’t win and would just as soon see a demagogue win the White House — as some kind of political payback for their personal favorite losing. Are they fucking nuts?
Not only are these folks juvenile, they’re real losers, and not nearly as smart as they try to pretend to be. They have to know the only way they can get what they want — eventually — is for these two progressive organizations to come together under one banner and then move forward towards their very worthwhile goals; which, by the way, can be attained in eight years if they’re politically astute enough.
Am I pissed off in regards to how the DNC seemingly rigged the outcome of the nomination process? Damn right I am! Does the Green Party platform make more sense? Damn right it does! But both of these facts won’t mean squat a year after the election if Hillary loses the election. We’ll have serious constitutional crises to deal with by then.
Our salvation just might have to come from Trump himself, who perhaps has finally given reasonable Republicans the hook to hang their hats on: picking on a Gold Star mother. Now they can abandon him and their party and no one can question their logic, conclusions or fealty. Some are already doing so as this is being written.
I just wish that far left progressives would show as much common sense. But I’m beginning to think that a “common-sense ideologue” (from either end of the political spectrum) is an oxymoron — or, on second thought, maybe just a plain moron.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.
One Response to “MANSFIELD: The Danger of Ideologues”
Peter Lawson Jones
Hush, common sense! Loved the oxymoron/plain moron close.