A Message to the #BernieorBust Movement-Amanda Kerri
http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/6/01/message-bernieorbust-movementThere once was a village named Ben Tre. It lay along a sleepy branch of a river a few dozen miles from the city of Saigon. When the Vietcong, in their attempt to overwhelm and defeat the combined forces of the South Vietnamese government and their American allies, launched a surprise attack during the ceasefire declared to celebrate the festival of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, they attempted to overwhelm and capture the sleepy little town. The Americans, in their attempt to keep their South Vietnamese allies from being overrun, used massive artillery and air strikes to indiscriminately bomb the town. Eventually the Americans won that day, killing 300 communist Viet Cong guerillas. However, in the process of this victory, half the village was destroyed and almost 1,000 innocent civilians were killed. At one point a truce was even called so they could throw the bodies of the dead villagers in the river so they wouldn’t spread disease among the soldiers. Later, when reporters asked how the military could wreck the town and kill some many innocent civilians, an American officer reportedly said, “It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it.”
It’s easy to morally justify things when we do them in the name of the righteousness of our beliefs. Sometimes they are epic in scale such as when religious crusaders slaughter the non-believers; sometimes they are seemingly petty, like when a person steals from another so they can eat. The problem with this is that while it may seem right to us and those who agree with us, it always comes at a cost to someone else. The more we are assured in the righteousness of our cause, the easier it is to become dogmatic in our beliefs and hurt anyone who may stand in our way — the reality of the situation and circumstances be damned.
When I hear those people shout at the top of their lungs or type in all caps #BernieorBust and #Never Hillary, I wonder how they can claim that they actually care about the people they say Bernie would be the best at helping. Some have even said that if Hillary gets the nomination, they would vote for Donald Trump just to keep her from winning. A few have even said they welcome Trump winning because the damage he would cause would further justify and empower the revolution Bernie has promised them. They’re ready to burn the village in order to save it.
I fully appreciate the loyalty and ideology of Bernie supporters; he’s inspired many to vote for the first time and given hope to many that someone in Washington still cares about the little man/woman. However, Bernie will not win. Sanders has so thoroughly insulted the Democratic Party that he has begun to burn any bridges he might have had the chance to build. He is behind by 3 million popular votes and over 250 pledged delegates. There will be no miracle on June 7 to close a gap like that unless a political upset the likes of which haven’t been seen since Truman beat Dewey in 1948. The superdelegates Bernie will not flip to his side, especially after he has called them corrupt and rigged against him. That bridge has been not merely burned but carpet bombed. Clinton is the uncrowned winner; her victory in the Democratic primary all but inevitable. If through a cosmic miracle Bernie is the presidential nominee in November, I will vote for him though, because it’s the right thing to do.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Excellent post there HumanityExperiment and I couldn't agree w/you more! 
appreciated 
correct, only principle matters to me, game on with your red and blue jersey contest
Like I stated, I'm just one person, if neither candidate meets my threshold as it pertains to principle it's my voting right how I cast that ballot so your continued ranting at me in these replies isn't making your case any better than you had with the initial reply
HRC is republican light in principle and policy/issue history... again, we can go line by line to validate but I'm expecting that you will again avoid that debate
Have a day! 
My apologies VulgarPoet. I am working and only have a minute to d.u. 
can't wait till quitter time.
You should vote Green as Tennessee doesn't allow write-ins unless they're registered to be one.
I'm doing the Green thing so that party might get 5 percent of the vote which would allow them to qualify for federal funding.
That said: fellow Tennessee Bernie supporter!
Well said.
