I thought maybe I could get most everyone here upset with me [View all]

[Tom Rinaldo]

I've laid the groundwork for that result carefully over the last year or so - maybe longer than that. I harbor strong partisan opinions but I just don't do polarization that well - which means I'm rarely a good loyalist for any side during conflicts. I too often stray off the reservation when it comes time to recite talking points

Case in point. I genuinely like both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. I think both of them have devoted their lives sincerely in service to their nation. I think they both have good ideals. I think they both have sound political instincts - that are not always right in every instance. They appeal to similar constituencies but not identical constituencies. But then again, that is always true. No two politicians, even those with similar views, ever appeal to the exact same groups of people. Still, in the big picture, it is clear as glass (at least to me) whose overall interests among Americans each of them is internally sworn to protect.

I had strained relations with some Sanders supporters last year (who ended up becoming Bernie or Busters) because I held positive feelings toward Hillary Clinton. I had strained relations with many Clinton supporters because (among other things) I thought Sanders was correct to make an issue over how some leading Democrats raise money, and how cozy they appeared to be with Wall Street type interests.

I never thought Hillary was corrupted by money, not twenty years ago, not ten years ago, not now. It takes millions upon millions upon millions to play politics in the big leagues. She found a way to harness some of that. And short of having a massive energized active grass roots movement constantly at your back, it takes having a lot of well placed connections to get the gears in motion to grind out scraps of social progress.

Hillary took one road to becoming influential, Bernie took another. But if one thing in life remains constant, it's that times keep changing. So I'm just starting to take note of this thing called the Paradise Papers. Seems to be a massive behind the scenes leak of thousands of documents that reveal how many of the most well connected people in the world accumulate and move money around the globe, often (but not always) in pursuit of narrow self interests at the expense of most everyone else. And I'm looking at the current social and political climate here in America, and I'm thinking - this is going to be big.

So let me be clear about one thing to start with. My world would be infinitely brighter if Hillary Clinton were President today. I have no need for, and there's no point to, bashing Hillary Clinton over matters of wealth and its accumulation. When I do look at the world by dividing it into sides, I know she is a strong defender of mine.

But I still have to say, Bernie was on to something. I strongly suspect that the Paradise Papers will reveal in gory details how the world is rigged against most people. - and the toxic role that capital concentrated in a tiny percentage of hands plays in depriving most of us of even a modicum of economic security in this world. And those revelations are going to make waves. Big ones.

I predict that if the Democratic Party fails to find a way of weaning itself from the teets of well heeled donors for political sustenance - it will continue to be viewed with suspicion, if not actual hostility, by an increasing plurality of Americans. And that will be very bad for all of us, not just for democrats