In the opera Rigoletto, the Duke of Mantua sings of the “fickleness of women”
Woman is flighty Like a feather in the wind,
She changes her voice and her mind.
Always sweet,
Pretty face,
In tears or in laughter, she is always lying.
Always miserable
Is he who trusts her,
He who confides in her his unwary heart!
Yet one never feels
Fully happy Who on that bosom does not drink love!
Not too long ago, Congress passed a law regulating insurance companies that included a mandate for individuals to purchase insurance. It was a flawed bill, as many things in a polarized environment are that ultimately get passed, but it also had many good things. One thing it did NOT have, however, was a Public Option.
And a Cry went up throughout the land, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
For many of the staunchest liberal/progressive members of Congress, rather than fight to the bitter end and sacrifice the OK for the perfect, went ahead and voted enthusiastically for the Affordable Care Act.
Among those was Senator Bernie Sanders.
Now this is not the only liberal blog out there, and while it is now the largest and most powerful, back then it had rivals. A rival blog, which shall remain nameless (*cough*JaneHamsher*cough*) started a crusade to primary anyone from the left who dared vote for the ACA without a public option.
This blog, and its followers, whose name during the great “sux/rox” war of 2010 became a bannable offense, had forced one relatively liberal popular Democratic Congressman from Arkansas into retiring.
Now they were going after bigger fish. Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Wait, what?
Kucinich and Sanders? Two of the most liberal Congresspeople EVER?
Because they weren’t “pure” enough on health care.
You know who you are.
But guess what?
Some of these people are now supporting SANDERS for President.
Didn’t they want to primary him back in 2010 for selling out to the Establishment?
Here’s the deal, folks.
We all have blind spots and cognitive dissonances when it comes to our preferred candidates. At some point they ALL will let us down or disappoint us in some way for some policy thing or another.
So what do we do about it?
We look deep and we see that BOTH candidates share the SAME CORE PRINCIPLES AND VALUES.
That’s what we cling to.
Clik here to view.
