We all know that our Senator, good ol' Rob Portman, is one of the Republicans refusing to hold hearings on the Supreme Court vacancy. I contacted him and told him fairly bluntly that he needed to do his job. I reminded him that the people decided in 2012 who got to nominate justices and that justices DO get nominated in election years.

So ol' Rob responded--
1--The people needed to decide. (Huh. Seems to me I told him already that I didn't buy that argument.)
2--No one ever, ever in the entire history of the US nominated a justice in the year of a presidential election. (Apparently we Ohio residents have never done a Google search on SCOTUS nominations.)



I guess he could tell me the truth: Rob is a GOP hack through and through, who takes his marching orders from Mitch McConnell and doesn't care one whit about the nation or the state he pretends to represent.

When the primaries started, I thought, "Interesting contest! Debates on issues!"

It is now March 31, and thanks to the amazingly obnoxious (and noxious) posturing of Bernie's supporters, I have gone from "Wow, we have two great candidates! I think Hillary is awesome, but I like Bernie, too" to "When is the old guy going back to Vermont?"

I have yet to hear from a Bernie supporter who can say more than one sentence in favor of his/her chosen candidate before the bashing of Hillary begins. She is a PLUTOCRAT! She is a CORPORATIST! She is mean, unethical, a liar. She is going to be indicted!!!! She hates puppies and kittens. (I made that last one up, but I expect I'll hear that next week.) I feel like I'm listening to right-wing radio hosts, not fellow progressive Democrats.

It is especially upsetting given the absolute loony tunes who are the potential Republican nominees. This country barely survived 8 years of GWB and Cheney, so we want their policies on steroids? Really? Antonin Scalia wasn't a lousy enough Supreme Court justice? You want three more like that so you will have NO rights left at all just so you can be ideologically pure in your support of Bernie? You want the social safety net turned into block grants? The ACA repealed? Just because as a Bernie supporter you think there is NO difference between Hillary and a Republican?

The Bernie campaign has taught me that going nasty and negative and spreading lies about the opponent is SO not the way to go in primary. It is counterproductive. I know it has really turned me off big time.

Turns out I have been away from DU for more than a month--I just couldn't take all the absolute nonsense going on in all the general discussions. We need to be discussing issues that affect us and will affect the election. But enough on that. I'm back because I wanted to talk about how I am trying to deal with the Bernie Bots in my life.

I heard from someone today I like and respect, and she expressed amazement that my Senator, Sherrod Brown (a progressive!) could "sell out" and endorse Hillary. Say what? Sherrod Brown and his wife, Connie Schultz, supported Hillary both in 2008 and now. He is most definitely a progressive, and guess what, LOTS of progressives support Hillary. Many people I know and respect who are most definitely progressives support Hillary and are already working on her campaign.

What I tell all Bernie Bots is that we have two great candidates to choose from--and my goal is to support and work for the Democratic nominee this fall. And I remind them that the LAST thing we need Donald Trump (a vulgar talking yam--thanks for the description, Charlie Pierce) or flat-tax lovin' and carpet bombin' Ted Cruz.

I am very frustrated with progressives (especially those in media) not being reasonable and rational in their support of Bernie. I know some thoughtful Bernie supporters. They voted for Bernie, but know that we need the White House, the Senate, and the House. They have said publicly that they like Bernie, but they will support Hillary in the general. They know what's at stake. The progressives doing the work of Karl Rove? Well, they need to be ashamed of themselves.