Bernie Sanders isn’t stupid. He’s not a fantasist. He knew all along that he probably couldn’t win. He just wants to go guns blazing into the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia so he can deliver his big Bernie revolution speech on a national stage. The Bernie movement is about “we, not he.” Hillary Clinton, who has, at best, a glancing interest in the goals of the Bernie movement, is about “she.” Which, for millions of women out there, is also about “we.” I get that. But when you boil the snow out of it, the Hillary “we” is not so much about policy or social priorities as a glass-ceiling shattering and a major triumph in the gender wars. Which is no small thing. Last night I felt that current along with everyone else. But the Bernie “we” is about much, much more.
The Bernie movement is not about gender, dynasty or “my turn!” — it’s about a fundamental change in direction that will…okay, which might start to prevent the shark of corporate capitalism, as Bill Maher said last week, from eating everything — democracy, the middle class, health care, the news media, our prison system. We all know Hillary Clinton isn’t out to change a damn fundamental thing. I agree with much of what she stands for, I’ll be voting for her next November and I’ll eventually find a way to get past that cackle laugh. But the Bernie thing has to keep going, and I don’t see what’s so bad, given the inevitability of Hillary’s nomination in July, in Bernie’s refusal to quench the torch. In fact I see something glorious in that.
