Apologies in political life are so easy. Sorry we bombed the crap out of you, Vietnam. Sorry we decimated your country, Iraq. Sorry we let those luxury condo developers displace all that moderate income housing. Sorry we stole that election (oh wait! Never ever admit that one!)! Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. Sorry does nothing now that the damage is done. I contend that the decisive New York primary was very likely thrown for Hillary. Whether the result of criminal negligence or criminal intent, the purging of 120,000+ voters in Brooklyn and poll worker confirmed infractions and errors in other boroughs, decidedly affected the New York primary election result, the very important perception of momentum, and the primaries which have since followed. Hillary's campaign and the Democratic establishment meant to stop Bernie in New York. It looks like they succeeded and will get away with it. City Comptroller Scott Stringer (a Hillary supporter) is investigating, but don't hold your breathe. Mayor deBlasio (a Hillary supporter) has made all the right news-cycle gestures of outrage about it, yet BOE Director Ryan (who makes 200k a year btw) remains in his job. HE NEEDS TO BE IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED without pay and a grand jury investigation of vote tampering needs to be opened. The damage to the cause of getting a true progressive elected president in 2016 has been irreversibly done, but some of these more egregious Dem Party hacks should see jail time. I know it won't happen just as I suspect that the Stringer investigation will at most turn up charges of incompetence rather than deliberate election fraud. That kind of smoking gun is hard to find; after all, we still merely speculate that the 2000 general election was stolen or that Lyndon Johnson stuffed the ballot boxes for Kennedy. I am not contending that New York City's election fiasco originated directly with Hillary Clinton, but for this Bernie supporter, it adds to the case that HILLARY CLINTON IS AN ILLEGITIMATE CANDIDATE who wins the nomination through a campaign not adverse to using fraud (not to mention being given such huge anti-democratic advantages as massive early super delegate support and closed primaries in key states). She doesn't deserve my support on either policy grounds nor in her campaign's disdain for democracy. In that once in several generations moment, Americans were given a true electoral choice to reclaim their country, but sleazy corporate interests and outright thugs, along with a lot of uncritical voters, have combined to offer us the SORRY choice between Chief Executive Thug, Donald Trump and Hired Corporate Henchwoman, Hillary Clinton. We who support Bernie and his vision for a fairer social democratic society can't and won't give up, but there is legitimate anger and disappointment at what history will judge a colossal missed opportunity at a decisive moment for our nation and the world.

Kids for Bernie!!!
Just a quick, cute tale from the Bernie trail. While canvassing and door-knocking does win elections, it can at times feel like pushing an enormous rock up a very steep hill. On this beautiful Spring Sunday, however, my partner and I were in an East Village, NYC park flyering, talking to undecided voters, and handing out Bernie stickers to those who wanted them. This particular neighborhood is strong for Bernie (groundswell or bubble?) and many of the passersby were saying they’d definitely be coming out for Bernie on Primary Day. There were parents putting Bernie stickers on their babies’ strollers and in one case on an eager 5 year old’s Superman costume. Some people, of course, were Hillary supporters, as one man informed me while strolling by with his family. As they were walking away, his little daughter, maybe 9 or 10, came running back to take a sticker and tell us, in the most earnest and enthusiastic voice, that she was really for Bernie and would just keep working on her dad! I can’t say whether she envisioned the better future that would result from a president who champions the absolute priority of saving our planet from disastrous climate change and who speaks with every breath and action about a fairer society, or she was more simply resonating with the incredible energy, truth, and integrity radiating out of this movement. In any case, parents: sometimes the children really do know best!